iiJrk\T^'kc^k£iI<[^soa%!kiX 



- ■ V 




lass r 1^^ 



hOOK 



|V^3 



iT^'^'M 




REV. JAMES LILBURN JEWELL, 
I^RESENT Pastor. 



A BRIEF HISTORY 

OF THE 

Pv^^b\iUxian Qlljxixxi) 

OF 

SOUTH SALEM, NEW YORK, 

1752— 1902. 



BY 

JOSEPH A. WEBSTER. 



PREPARED AND PUBLISHED 

BY 

DIRECTION OF SESSION, 

ON THE 

Occasion of the 150TH Anniversary. 



JOURNAL PRINTING HOUSE. 
ELIZABETH, N. J. 



n 




■\- 



^mL.^'\- 4ti /^.j/At/fi Sj /.^ 


1 , ■_ 


■'■/■'- 






i ^'w,,.^'^ 


















\y,. .. ,>...x^..- : 


r .::../(.,',. . - , 


- // 






/ . ' ; . fJtttJ^J /JfittJ^4 ' 


?.: ^..•■;' /v --I- ■■'; 








/'.■■■'i^ 


' ■-r--~-^^-|aiir'"-i 


...... ./- • . 








--• !^ ,.. . , ■ 


rJ'^L 






Hk- >f^>^' 










R&s. 






Wbif/jfj'^-:,.. 


• 


"'if^fU 






^^^Mi-'i 










Wj^'- 








-^.. 


■**"'" '•/"■■• 








. ../ 4Jn 


lff'«^ 


. 4» 






" 0* : ... ' 


H''7 


• 
•^ 






-** 


^Kk-w 


«^:. 








^■tji^ . 










- "^^sJC^ 


1 


^^^^^ 


V'.-.- - 


AS. J .V 




Mi^M^iMMHl 



nil-: ol.I) DHHD. 



CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF 

LOWER SAEEM. 

January 4, 17 85. 

(gnoix) (^ff (Weil Bg ^3e6c ^UBmis That we Nathan 
Rockwell and Gould Bowton Elders of the Presbyterian 
Church and Congragation of the Town of Lower Salem in the 
Count}- of Westchester and State of New York do hereby certify 
that the Reverend Solomon Mead Minister of the said Church 
and Congregation on Sunday the 4th day of December last, 
after Divine Worship was ended on said day, did give publick 
notice to the said Church and Congregation then assembled 
at the Presbyterian Meeting house in the said Town that an 
election would be held on the Nineteenth da}- of the same 
Month at ten of the Clock in the Morning at the said Meeting 
house for the purpose of Choosing Trustees to take the Charge 
of 3-e Temporalities of the said Church and Congregation 
Agreeable to the Laws of this State which notice was likewise 
given on the Sabbath subsequent thereto and that on the said 
Nineteenth da}- of December a Considerable number of the 
Male persons who by Law were entitled to vote at the said 
Election did Assemble at the said Meeting house for the pur- 
pose aforesaid and by a majority of Voices did Choose and 
Appoint Abijah Gilbert Jacob Hait Matthew Seymore Gideon 
Seley Michael Halsted and Nathaniel Newman to be trustees 
for the said Church and Congregation for the purpose of tak- 
ing into their Charge and Care and Managing all the Tem- 
poral Affairs Relative to the said Church and Congregation 
Agreeable to an Act of the Legislature of this State Entitled 
an Act to enable the Religious Denominations in this State to 
appoint Trustees who shall be a body corporate for the pur- 
pose of taking care of the Temporalities of their respective 
Congregations and for other purposes therein mentioned 
passed April the 6th 1784 and that the said Abijah Gilbert 
Jacob Hait Matthew Seymore Gideon Seley Michael Halstead 
and Nathaniel Newman Appointed Trustees as aforesaid and 
their successors for ever hereafter shall and may be known by 
the name stile and title of the Trustees of the Presbyterian 
Church and Congregation of the Town of Lower Salem and 
that the said Trustees have each of them since the time of their 
appointment as aforesaid signified their readiness to take on 
themselves the trust reposed in them by means of such Ap- 




8 Certificate of Incorporation. 

pointment Given under our hands and the seal of our said 
Corporation this fourth day of Januar}- in the Ninth Year of 
the Independance of the State of New York and in the year of 
our Lord one Thousand seven Hundred and Eighty five. 
Signed and sealed 

Nathaniel Rockwell 
In the presence of 

Gould Boutox 

5Be ii QRemcmBercb that on this fourth day of January in the 
3'ear one Thousand seven Hundred and Eight four Nathan 
Rockwell and Gould Bouton the signors to this Certificate or 
Instrument of writing Appeared before me Ebenezer Purdy one 
of the Judges of the Inferor Cort of Commonpleas for the 
County of Westchester and acknowledged that they signed and 
sealed the same and that every measure and thing therein con- 
tained were impartially Conducted Agreeable to the Law 
therein mentioned and I having examined the same and find 
no material mistake do allow it to be recorded. 

Ebenezer Purdv. 

A true copy of Original Certificate and of the acknowl- 
edgement endorsed this loth of February 1785. 

Richard Hatfield, Clk. 



Biait of (Uetw <^orft, 

Office of the County Clerk ov) ss.: 

WiCSTCHESTlvR CoUNTV. 



I have compared the preceding with the certificate re- 
corded iii the Book of Religious Corporations in this office on 
the loth day of February, 1785, and do Hereby Certify the 
same to be a correct transcript therefrom and of the whole of 
such original. 

IN TliSTJMON)' \\iniRl-:01-\ I liave hereunto sul)- 
scribed my name and afhxcd my official .seal this 5th day of 
P'ebruary, 1902. 

Leslie Sutherland, 
County Clerk of Westchester County. 



CHAPTER I. 

History of the Organization and Religious Work 
OF THE Church. 



THE history of the vSoiith Salem Presbyterian Church 
begins when Solomon Mead, then a young man, just 
graduated from college, came from his home in Green- 
wich, Conn., to Salem, a short time previous to the organiza- 
tion of the church, May 20th, 1752. He was not married, 
and not as yet an ordained minister. His great care, in 
making a full and accurate record, has given us an excellent 
account of the organization and early life of the church. Mr. 
Mead's description of his own ordination, and of the organiza- 
tion of the church of Salem, in the quaint old-fashioned 
language of that day, cannot be excelled, and we quote it in 
full : 

' ' As the people belonged not to any Presbytery or Asso- 
ciation, it was agreed by said society that the committee of 
said society with the candidate then on Probation viz. : Mr. 
Solomon Mead, jointly should send for some of the neighbor- 
ing ministers to perform the work of authorizing of him, the 
said Mr. Mead, and invest him with the ministerial charge 
over them. The ministers sent for were those that follow viz. : 
Rev'd Messrs Abraham Todd — Elisha Kent — William Gay lord 
— Jonathan Ingersol — Robert Silliman and Samuel Sacket, 
which convocation was agreed to be called on May the 20th, 
1752. Accordingly on the 19th met those that are set down, 
in the convention, which I transcribe from the doings of said 



10 History of the Organization and 

convention and is as followetli : At a convention of ministers 
at vSalem on the 19th of May, Anno Domini, 1752, met upon 
the desire of the People of Salem and places adjacent in con- 
junction with Mr. Solomon Mead, a candidate for the Gospel 
ministr}', in order to ordain the said Mr. Mead a Gospel minis- 
ter among or over said people. 

Present of the Rev'd Messrs sent for, Abraham Todd — 
Jonathan Ingersol and Samuel Sacket. Mr. Todd chosen 
moderator, Mr. Ingersol scribe of the meeting. Opened by 
prayer performed by the moderator. The Rev. Mr. James 
Davenport being present, was voted in as a member of the 
convention. Proceeded on Mr. Mead's trials ; examined him 
in the Languages, in his experimental acquaintance with 
religion, his doctrinal knowledge of Divinity and his ortho- 
dozy. Then meeting adjourned till tomorrow morning. 

Met according to adjournment. Mr. Mead presented and 
read a Sermon to the convention and upon a deliberate con- 
sideration, unanimously agreed and voted to proceed in the 
ordination of Mr. Mead. 

Voted that Mr. Ingersol make the first prayer and give 
the Right Hand of fellowship, that Mr. Todd .should preach, 
that Mr. Sacket make the ordination prayer, that Mr. Kent 
give the charge and that Mr. Davenport conclude with prayer 
and a word of exhortation. At which time a church was 
gathered consisting of eighteen members, viz.: Josiah Gilbert 
— Solomon Close — Stephen Brush — Jonah Keeler — Noah St. 
John — Daniel St. John — Nathan Northrop — Andrew Bishop 
— P^ben Scofield — John Bouton — Kben Gronunon — Lot Keeler 
— Paul Keeler — Abraham Northrop — Benjamin Bishop and 
lUijah Keeler. 

The ordination was performed accordingly. 

[tkst.] Jonathan I^nckksol, vScribe. 

This was the first ordination in Salem and the first church 
gathered in said town. 

S01.OMON Mkad. 



Religious Work of the Church. 11 

The first Sabbath after the organization, viz.: May the 
24th, I took a vote of the Church whether we should join with 
the Western Association in Fairfield County, voted in the 
affirmative, the whole church except Nathan Northrop. Ac- 
cordingly I joined as a member of said association on the next 
Tuesday, viz.: the 26th of May." 

This careful mention of dates above shows that the church 
was organized on Wednesday. It was at first a Congrega- 
tional church, belonging to the Fairfield County Association. 
The action of the church in joining this association was no 
doubt due to the fact that Mr. Mead was a member of the 
Congregational Church, and also because this portion of the 
town of Salem was at that time, and for some years later, a 
part of the Colony of Connecticut. 

About this time, twenty-nine other members united with 
the church on the recommendation of neighboring ministers, 
from whose churches they had come. Most of these were the 
wives of the eighteen who organized the church, thus making 
the total membership forty-seven. Three more were added 
during that year including Epenetus Howe and his wife, Mary. 

On July 2nd, 1752, Solomon Close and John Bouton were 
elected deacons. At another meeting of the church, on 
September 14th, of the same year, it was voted to contribute 
four pence a man and three pence a woman for the year en- 
suing. From this it would appear that the salary of the 
pastor was not a great burden to the congregation. Mr. Mead, 
however, was the owner of a large farm, and probably 
depended on the products of his land for most of the necessi- 
ties of life, with which the farmers of those days were usually 
content. 

There is no further record of any church meeting until 
September 8th, 1757, when the following, rather odd minute, 
was recorded. " At a meeting of ue church to hear reasons of 
Deacon Bouton's resigning his office, after hearing and agree- 
ing he had power to lay down, ue church proceed to a new 



13 History of the Organization and 

choice. Again make choice of ue deacon. He desires three 
weeks from Lord's day ensuing for consideration. Petition 
granted. Ue deacon accepts." 

It would seem to be an impossible task, nearly one hun- 
dred and fifty 3'ears later, to seek an explanation of this singular 
action of " ue deacon," but the writer has been informed by a 
person now living that when Deacon Bouton's son married 
the daughter of another member of the church, this man was, 
for some cause, very angry at the marriage and carried the 
matter so far as to refuse to take the sacrament from the hands 
of Deacon Bouton. A reference to the record shows that this 
marriage took place in 1755, and without doubt this explains 
the cause of the deacon's resignation and the subsequent 
action of the meeting. 

The next recorded meeting was on September 29tli, 1763. 
It was voted to adopt the Presbyterian form of government, 
and five ruling elders were chosen, viz., Deacon Solomon 
Close, Deacon John Bouton, Josiah Gilbert, Esq., Joseph 
Osburn and Thaddeus Crane. 

From this time until the close of Mr. Mead's long pastor- 
ate, in the year 1800, there are only four church meetings 
recorded, and these were held to fill vacancies in the eldership. 
In 1765 Joseph Benedict was chosen elder in place of Joseph 
Osburn, deceased; in 1778 Nathaniel Wicks was chosen in 
place of Solomon Close, deceased ; in 1782 Nathan Rockwell 
and Capt. Gould Bouton were elected, and in 1786 Capt. 
Samuel Lawrence was chosen in the room of Col. Joseph 
Benedict, deceased. 

Where the record is so meager we can only judge of the 
growth of the church by the list of members added. Two 
lists were kept by Mr. Mead, one, of those who were admitted 
to the church, and the other, of those that " renewed the cove- 
nant " — this phrase evidently referring to those persons who 
were baptized in infancy and in late years united with the 
church. Sixty names are recorded in the first list between 



Religious Work of the Church, 13 

1753 and 1802, and the second list numbers one hundred 
eight3'-six. It is idle to wish that Mr. Mead had given us a 
much fuller account of the church and people of his time, but 
there is one part of his record which he kept very fully and 
with great accuracy, as has been often proved by the many 
people who have searched the record of baptisms, marriages 
and deaths. During the forty-eight j-ears of his pastorate he 
baptized nine hundred twelve persons, and performed the 
marriage ceremony six hundred sixty-six times. Each 
date is carefully entered, and also a list of the deaths in the 
congregation after 1767. 

The troublous years of the Revolutionary War have left 
scarcely an}- trace on the church records. Among the recorded 
deaths are only two which were certainly the results of the 
war. One reads: "July nth, lyord's da}^ 1779, Stephen 
Ambler, at Bedford, nuirdered." A relative of Mr. Ambler 
has a record of this death, and he states that he was killed in 
the war, no doubt l^y Tories in ambush. The other entry is: 
"October, 1779, Abijah Northrup, New York, a prisoner." 
Without doubt the man died on one of the British prison ships. 
Although the English troops in their raids entered nearly 
every one of the surrounding towns and burned the Presbyte- 
rian churches in Poundridge and Yorktowai, it is said that no 
British soldier ever entered this town, except Major Andre, and 
he was at the time a prisoner. 

Directly after the close of the war Mr. Mead adds military 
titles to several of the members, including Col. Solomon Close, 
Col. Joseph Benedict, Capt. Gould Bouton and Capt. Samuel 
Dawrence. These men were all commissioned oihcers in the 
American army. 

Mr. Mead's long ministrj^ closed early in September, 1800; 
and until late in the year 1804, when another pastor was 
chosen, no regular records were kept, but from some recorded 
baptisms it would seem that Mr. Mead continued to officiate 
during that time when his health permitted. 



14 History of the Organization and 

On November ajtli. i<So4, the Presbytery of Hudson con- 
vened at Salem to take action regarding a call of the church to 
Rev. John Ely. Presbytery was opened with prayer, offered 
by Rev. Solomon Mead, which shows that he was at that time 
able to take some part in public business. Mr. Ely accepted 
the call and was duh' installed the following day. Revs. 
Ebenezer Grant, Israel Ward, John Minor and John Clark 
took part in the service. 

At the time of Mr. Ely's installation the church num- 
bered fort>--nine members, and during his pastorate of nearly 
eight years fifty-seven names were added to the church roll, 
mostly by profession of faith. In 1806 Thaddeus Rockwell 
and David Northrop were elected elders; and again, in 181 1, it 
became necessary to choose elders to fill vacancies caused by 
death. At that time Aaron Keeler and Miah Northrop were 
elected. All of the other minutes of session during Mr. Ely's 
pastorate simply record the examination of persons presenting 
themselves for admission to the church. 

The church had no pastor for about a year after Mr. Ely's 
resignation, but on Se]itember 22d, 181 3, Rev. Jacob Burbank 
was installed. Mr. Kurbank's pastorate covered a period of 
only four years, and the records of session present no items of 
esi)ecial interest. At a church meeting held in March, 1814, 
William Townsend and Nehemiah Northrop were elected 
elders. 

An imi)()rtant event in the histor\' of the church took 
place on No\-ember 14th, 1S15. On that day a num1)er of the 
ladies of the congregation met at the parsonage and organized 
the first missionar>' society ever formed in Salem, luider the 
title of " Female Charitable Society." The secretary of the 
W'oman's Missionar}- Board in New York states that there is 
no record of an\- similar society in the Presbyterian Church as 
old as this which has kept a continuous record to the present 
time. 

Rev. Chark'S F. Bnller was installed as ])astor of the 



Religious Work of the Church. 15 

church June 14th, 1820. But the trustees' records show that 
he had been supplying; the pulpit nearly all of the time after 
the retirement of Mr. Burbank. Mr. Butler's pastorate was a 
short one, as ill health compelled him to resign in the early 
part of 1823 ; but during his ministry the church experienced 
one of the greatest revivals in its history. 

On September ist, 1822, seventy-two persons united with 
the church by profession of faith, many of them heads of fami- 
lies ; in fact, in reading over the list it seems as though nearly 
the whole congregation not already connected with the church 
must have joined at this time. Another remarkable thing is 
that this whole work was conducted during the summer 
months, which are always considered the busiest in the year 
in a farming community. At Mr. Butler's coming there were 
one hundred twenty members of the church, and during his 
short stay ninety-two were added, and only two by certificate. 
On August 17th, 1822, Thomas Mead and Josiah Gilbert, 2nd, 
were elected elders. Toward the close of this year Mr. 
Butler's health failed so rapidly that he found it necessary to 
resign his pastorate, the meeting of session held November 
30th being the last at which he presided. 

At a meeting of session held February 28th, 1823, Rev. 
Stephen Saunders presided, and signed his name as moderator, 
so he had evidently at that date accepted a call from the 
church. He was duly installed as pastor on May ist follow- 
ing, and thus began a ministry which lasted just eleven years. 
During these eleven years one hundred thirty-four addi- 
tions to the church are recorded, only thirteen of these being 
by certificate. A large proportion of these members joined 
during a revival in the years 1831 and 1832. In September, 
1825, Jared Bouton and Ezra Northrop were elected ruling 
elders, and June ist, 1829, Aaron Northrop was chosen to that 
office. Between these dates two members of the .session, Thad- 
deus Rockwell and Ezra Northrop, had died. 

The records kept by Mr. Saunders are very full, but there 



16 History of ihk Organization and 

is only occasionalh' an item of any historical interest, much 
space being taken up with the action of session regarding the 
conduct of delinquent members of the church. In February, 
1833, a colored woman appeared before the session and was ad- 
mitted to church membership, an action not often taken in those 
days. 

Until about this time the historian is obliged to depend 
mostly on the records for accurate information, but from 
1830 onward much reliable information is obtainable from some 
of the older members of the congregation. 

It was Mr. Saunders' custom to make regular pastoral 
visits throughout the congregation, and during the winter 
months to hold Bible classes on certain week-day evenings in 
the different neighborhoods, usually at private houses. It was 
his custom also to preach occasionally in the school-houses in 
the vicinity, and this custom was followed also by his suc- 
cessor, Mr. Frame. 

It is difficult to get information as to the time of first 
holding regular weekly prayer meetings as there is no mention 
of the matter in the records, and none of the older people 
seem to have a definite recollection of the first prayer meet- 
ings. 

It was, strangely enough, the custom for a number of 
years to hold a monthly concert missionary meeting on Mon- 
day afternoon, but why this time was chosen we do not know. 

Mr. vSainiders' health was failing during the latter years 
of his niinistr\', and in the sj^ring of 1S34 he asked the con- 
gregation to join in his recpiest that Presbytery dissolve the 
pastoral relation. 

The }nil])it was vacant only a few months, however, as a 
call was extended on vSeptember 9th, of the same year, to Rev. 
Reuben Frame, and by him accepted. The installation 
.services took ])lace October (jth, and llius connnenced a pastor- 
ate of si.xteen }-ears. It was during these years that a great 
wave of temperance reform swept over the whole countr}-, and 



Religious Work of the Church. 17 

Mr. Frame was an active worker in this cau.se, as well as in all 
forms of religious effort. 

The old custom of two preaching .services in the day-time 
on the Sabbath was still followed, except that during the 
winter months only the morning .service was held. On Sabbath 
evenings Mr. Frame usually preached in some of the neighbor- 
ing school-houses. 

In 1842 there was a great increa.se of religious interest in 
the whole community, still spoken of by the older people as 
"the great revival of 1842," at which time upwards of forty 
were admitted to church membership. During Mr. Frame's 
whole pastorate about one hundred thirty additions to the 
church roll are recorded, only twenty-five of the.se bj- cer- 
tificate. 

In December, 1840, Aaron Northrop, one of the elders, 
was dismi.s.sed from the church on account of his removal to 
Ridgefield. This left the session with only three members 
besides the pastor, namel}' : Thomas Mead, Josiah Gilbert and 
Jared Bouton. An election of elders was held on Monda}^, 
February i6th, 1846, at which time Edwin Bouton, John 
Bouton and Martin Mead, 2nd, were chosen. 

Mr. Frame resigned his pastorate in the fall of 1850, hav- 
ing received a call to another field. For nearly two years the 
church was vacant, although several attempts were made to 
call a pastor, in fact, in April, 1851, a call was made out to 
Rev. John C. Rankin, but there was a strong minority in 
opposition, and the call was declined. Again, in February, 
1852, a call was extended, this time unanimously, to Rev. W. 
C. McFee, but for some reason Mr. McFee declined. 

Then, on June 24th, 1852, a unanimous call was extended 
to Rev. Aaron L. L,indsley to become pastor of the church, 
and was by him accepted. There is, strangel>-, no record of 
Mr. L,ind.sley's installation, but a note in the register of mem- 
])ers states that he was installed November 24th, 1852. At 
this time the roll of church members was thoroughly revised 



18 History of the Organization and 

1)\- llic pastor, and it is possible for the first time in a ajood 
nian\- years to t;et accurate statistics without searching,;' the 
records name 1)\- name. The total membershiji of the church 
was one hundred ninety-six in June, 1852, and during Mr. 
Iyindsle:,'s pastorate there were one hundred thirty-five addi- 
tions to the church. 

During the hundred years of the history of the church 
thus far reviewed, there had been scarcely an}- change in the 
customs of the church, and perhaps almo.st as little in the 
habits of the people. But from this time onward, we notice 
many and frequent innovations and instances of old customs 
being dropped, and new ideas and methods of work taking 
their i)laces. 

It is not in the proxince of a narrative of this kind to 
decide as to which of these changes are improvements, or 
whether they all are, but it seems to be the place just here to 
mention some of them. An\- member of another denomination, 
bringing a letter of reconnnendation, was examined as to 
doctrinal belief l)y the session luitil 1854 ; the custom of hold- 
ing a monthly missionary meeting on Monday afternoon was 
also continued until al)()Ut that time. For years there had 
been continual service of siunmons on members of the church 
to a]i]-)ear before session to answer charges of reports of "com- 
mon fame," and also to give reasons for absence from com- 
nuniion .services. vSeveral times in the 'fifties a certain mem- 
ber was \-isited by members of .session, dnh' a]ipointed, lo .see 
w li\- he failed to attend serx'ices, and t'urlher action was sug- 
gested, although his excuse was al\\a\s lliat his health would 
not ])ermit of his attending. Ihit when this gentleman finall\- 
died l)efore the last conunittee apjtointed could .see him, the 
.session, in a minute on record, express their regret that they 
had not realized tliis man's physical condition, and there is no 
liirtlier account of an\- attempt on the ])art of session to en- 
force the attendance of members of the church at the regular 
services. 



Religious Work oh the Church ['J 

In 185S the society disposed of its hearse to Mr. vSidney 
R. lyockwood, and thus pernianeiitly went out of the under- 
taking business. 

No musical instrument was regularly used in the church 
services until 1863, when an organ was purcha.sed, and Miss 
Julia W. Liudsley appointed organist. As late as 1866 some 
one offered a resolution that the doors of the church should 
not be opened for singing concerts or any secular meeting, but 
the day for such resolutions had evidently passed, as no one 
was found to second it. 

The afternoon service on the Sabbath w^as discontinued in 
1863, and an evening service substituted, and many other 
changes of less importance have taken place in the years inter- 
vening between that time and the present. 

Dr. L,indsley's pastorate was in every way an em- 
inently successful one. He was an eloquent and earnest 
preacher, and his efforts for the salvation of souls were 
greatly blessed, especially in the latter years of his 
ministry in vSouth vSalem, when in one year, 1866, 
fifty-eight persons were admitted to the church on con- 
fession of faith, many of them being heads of families. He 
was also greatly interested in every movement for educational 
and moral advancement, and was the acknowledged leader in 
such matters in the community. Being, too, a great lover of 
nature, he was constantly trying to improve and beautify the 
parsonage grounds and the village street, and the row of 
stately elms in front of the church property are an enduring 
moniunentand constant reminder of his efforts in this direction. 

Many changes in the eldership took place during the years 
of Dr. Lindsley's pastorate. On April nth, 1857, Martin 
Mead died, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and a suitable 
minute recording his death was adopted at the next meeting 
of session. On Monday, July 6th, of the same year, Jacob 
Webster and Leonard B. Todd were chosen elders, and duly 
installed on Sunday afternoon, August 30th. Twice in the 



20 History of the Organization and 

following year were members of the session removed by death, 
Jared Boiiton, August 24th, 1S58, in his seventy-sixth year, 
and Josiah Gilbert, October 25th, in his seventy-second year. 
The session recorded their appreciation of the long and faithful 
service of these two men, Mr. Gilbert having been an elder for 
thirt>-six years, and Mr. Bouton for thirty-three. 

On P'ebruary 28th, 1868, after preparatory lecture, Web- 
ster B. Hull and Thomas Gilbert were elected to the oflfice of 
eldership, and were installed on Sunday, March 15th. Thomas 
Mead died May 5th, 1868, in his eighty-seventh year, and as 
he was elected an elder at the same time as Mr. Josiah Gilbert, 
he had served the church in that office for fort3'-six years. 
Mr. Mead's work in the church was duly acknowledged in the 
minutes adopted by session, and the mourning at his death 
was general throughout the conniuuiitx', for he had l)een a 
man prominent in all local affairs, alwa\s active in every good 
work, and honorable and U])right in all his dealings with his 
fellow-men. The writer well remembers the draping of the 
pew which Mr. Mead had occupied in church for man}- years, 
and that the elders wore crape on one arm at all public services . 
for tliirtx- days after his death. 

Twice during ]\Ir. Lind.slej-'s pastorate Presbyter\- met in 
the vSouth vSalem church, once in October, i86r, and again in 
October, 1867. These are the nn\y meetings of that body, not 
called for a s])ecial purpo.se, which ha\-e ever been held in this 
church, so far as the records show. 

In May, i860, the following entry was made in the .ses- 
sional record : " Aaron Mead, ba])ti/.ed September 7th, 1777, 
b\- Rev. vSolomon Mead, was admitted to full connnunion on 
examination." The fact that this gentleman was a))out 
eighlN-lhree years of age at the liiiR' he united with the church 
makes it notewortln\ 

'i'lie > ears of the Cix'il War, with their attendant anxiety 
and excitement, ha\-e left no mark on the church records; l)nt 
some now li\ing will rememl)er the deep impression i)roduced 



Religious Work of the Church. 21 

by the eloquent patriotic sermons delivered during those years 
by Dr. Lindsley, especially on the national Thanksgiving days 
and those set apart by President Lincoln as days of fasting 
and prayer. 

The members of the congregation were bus}- during those 
years also in providing many things for the use of the soldiers 
in camp and the sick and wounded in the hospitals. Some of 
our young men, too, saw active ser\-ice in the field during the 
war, and a few from this congregation went forth never to 
return. 

In the summer of iS6S Dr. Lindsley went to the Pacific 
coast, and at the urgent request of a chiu'ch in Portland, 
Oregon, decided to remain there. Con.sequently, after a period 
of just sixteen years, the church was again without a 
pastor. 

The pulpit was vacant for about six months, and then, on 
March 29th, 1869, a call was made to Rev. Daniel vS. Gregory, 
of New Haven, to become the pastor, and was by him ac- 
cepted. During the next two years Dr. Gregory did a great 
deal of hard work throughout the whole congregation, organ- 
izing Sunda3'-schools in several of the school-houses of out- 
lying districts during the summer, and holding many services 
in the different neighborhoods in the winter, besides extra 
services at the church when special interest in religious mat- 
ters seemed to indicate that good would thus be accomplished. 

At every comnuuiion season during this time one or more 
persons united with the church on examination, the whole 
number for the two years and three months of Dr. Gregory's 
pastorate being twenty- four, and there were also five by cer- 
tificate from other churches. 

In the summer of 1871 Dr. Gregory received an appoint- 
ment as President of a Western institution of learning, and 
tendered his resignation, which was regretfully accepted at a 
congregational meeting held August 7th of that year. 

There was no long vacancy at this time, as a unanimous 



22 History of thi; Organization and 

call was made out to Rev. Thomas M. Gray, on September 
1 8th, and he was shortly after installed as the pastor. 

It was during the early part of Mr. Gray's pastorate that 
the church was thoroiighly repaired and remodeled. Prepara- 
tions for this work had been going on for some time, and the 
repairs were commenced in the sununer of 1.S72 and com- 
pleted in the following winter. 

The minutes of session present no items of special interest, 
being mostly devoted to the regular routine business. 

During Mr. Gray's ministry twelve names were added to 
the church membership roll, and an eflfort was made to thor- 
oughly revise the list of members, but the work was not com- 
])leted. Mr. Gray resigned in the spring of 1.S76, and from 
that time until March, 1879, the church was without a settled 
pastor. 

On vSuuday, June 4th, 1S76, the Rev. A. L. Lindsley, 
D, D., a former pastor, ]>reached to a large congregation and 
administered the sacrament of the L,ord's Supper. 

Rev. Henry J. Owen came to the church as a supply in 
the fall of 1 .876, and during the following winter, although in 
feeble health, was unceasing in his efforts for the salvation of 
souls. As a result of his labors nearly fift\- jiersons united 
with the church at the connnunion, March 4th, 1S77. Hut 
while engaged in this work Mr. Owen's health gave wa>- en- 
tirel>-, and in the spring he went to Colorado. The rest and 
change howexer, came too late, and he died at Colorado 
vSprings, March 3i.st, 1878, at the early age of thirty-two years. 
Resolutions ]iassed at that time by the session express the 
appreciation of the church and congregation of his serxices 
here and the sense of personal bereavement felt by all. 

kcw George A. vSeeley, an intimate friend of Mr. Owen, 
who was in tliis countrx- for a \acation after se\-eral vears 
of work as a iiiissionar\- in India, assisted in 11k' work toward 
the close of Mr. Owen's sta_\- among us, and continued to 
sup])l\- the- pul])it ill a \er}- acceptable manner for about a >ear 




CHURCH BUILDING OF 1872 



Religious Work of the Church. 25 

and a half afterward. While Mr. Seele}' was supphing the 
pulpit fourteen names were added to the list of connnunicants. 

On January 4th, 1.S79, Rev. George M. McCanipljell 
signified his acceptance of a call tendered to him by the con- 
gregation, and was duly installed March 12th following. 
Elder Jacob Webster retired from the active duties of that 
office November 5th, 1879, and Elder Leonard B. Todd died 
quite suddenly on February 6th, 18S0. The connnunit}' was 
saddened by the death of Mrs. McCampbell in the same mouth. 
Although her residence in South Salem had been brief, Mrs. 
McCampbell had won the love and respect of everyone, and 
her loss was deeply felt by all. 

It is remarkable that during all the 3'ears this w^as the first 
death wdiich had ever occured in the parsonage, and onl}' once 
before had an}- member of a minister's family been removed by 
death while such minister was acting as pastor of the church. 

Shortly after Dr. Eiudsley came to South Salem his 
mother was fatally injured by being thrown from a carriage, 
and died in the home of a neighl^or. 

As in former cases, a suitable minute regarding Elder 
Todd's usefulness in the church and community was recorded 
in the session book shortly after his death. 

Mr. McCampbell's pastorate ended July 30th, 1882. 
There were thirty-three additions to the mem])ership of the 
church during his ministry. 

Rev. John M. Buchanan supplied the pulpit for several 
months in 18S3. 

The church had no settled pastor until tiie spring of 1884, 
when Rev. Eynian I). Calkins was installed. Mr. Calkins 
had, however, supplied the pulpit for some time previous to 
his installation. Elder John Bouton died March 5th, 1885, 
and the minute of session adopted at that time .speaks of 
his long ser^-ice of thirty-nine years as a ruling elder. 

After two years of active and earnest labor, Mr. Calkins 
resigned to accept a call to a church in Brooklyn, N. Y. 



26 History of the Organization and 

TwentN'-five names were added to the church roll in these two 
3'ears. 

From June, 1886, until January. 1888, Rev. John M. 
Buchanan and others supplied the pulpit. Rev. Manford P. 
Welcher was called on January 20th, 18S8, and installed 
June 5th of that year. On March ist, 1889, John F. Bouton, 
George E. Hull, Henry h. vSt. John, and Joseph A. Webster 
were elected ruling elders and ordained to that office March 
31st following. 

On June 23d of the same year, at the invitation of session, 
Rev. Aaron L,. Lindsley, D. D., preached to his former con- 
gregation, and at the regular meeting of session in August 
following a suitable resolution was passed regarding this 
.service, and thanking Dr. lyindsley " for the gracious influence 
of his ministration here, morning and evening, for the edifica- 
tion of this church." 

The years of 1890 and 1891 brought sorrow and a feeling 
of personal loss to the members of the congregation, on account 
of the death of four men who had at different periods exerted 
a great influence for good, and been prominently identified 
with the work of the church. Klder Webster B. Hull died 
August 17th, 1890. Rev. George A. Seeley was suddenly 
removed from his active work on earth on March 15th, 1891. 
After his marriage to Miss Jennie L. Pardee, Mr. vSeeley and 
his wife returned to his mi.ssionary field in India, where lhe\- 
labored together for eight years. Then, on returning to lliis 
country, Mr. vSeeley accepted a call to Morristown, N. V., 
where after a very brief pastorate he died suddenly of pneu- 
monia. 

Rev. Reuben Frame also pa.ssed peacefully awa\- at the 
home of his .son-in-law, William Oilman, at Chicago, 111., on 
March 31st, 1891, aged eighty-six years. 

Rev. Aaron L. Lindslew I). 1)., was fatall>- injured in a 
runaway accident just after conducting service in llic clnu'ch 
which he had organized near his summer resitlence ; he was 



Religious Work of the Church. 27 

at once removed to his Portland home, where he died, on 
August 1 2th, 1 89 1. 

The resohitions passed by the session regarding the bene- 
fits which the Hves of these men had brought to the South 
Salem church would take up too much space in this historical 
sketch, otherwise they would be inserted in full. 

Thirt}'-five members are reported as added to the church 
during Mr. Welcher's pastorate. It was also largely through 
the effort of Mr. and Mrs. Welcher that the Christian En- 
deavor Society was organized. An account of this society will 
l)e found in another part of this work. Mrs. Welcher also 
ver}' successfully carried on a Mission Band, the result of 
which is seen among the 3'oung people of today. ^Ir. Welcher 
resigned in the fall of 1893. 

There was only a very short vacanc}- at this time, as a call 
was made to Rev. Theodore ly.Van Norden,iJanuary 2d, 1894. 
Mr. VanNorden supplied the pulpit during the winter and 
was installed as pastor in Ma}- of the same year. 

In Ma}', 1894, another vacancy in the eldership was 
caused, by the death of Elder Edwin Bouton, in the eight}'- 
tourth year of his age. Mr. Bouton had ser\-ed the church as 
a ruling elder for forty-eight years, and had been for about 
nine 3-ears the sole survivor of those elders who were in office 
when Mr. Frame resigned and Dr. Lindsley began his pastor- 
ate in South Salem. 

Mr. VanNorden resigned the pastorate of the church 
September 22d, 1897. Twenty-six persons united with the 
church during his ministry. 

For more than a year various supplies and candidates, 
including Rev. Charles T. Berry of Brooklyn, N. Y., occupied 
the pulpit, and on February 21st, 1899, a congregational meet- 
ing was called to elect a pastor. Rev. James L. Jewell, the 
present pastor, was unanimously chosen, and having accepted 
the call was duly installed, on May 23d of that year. During 
his pastorate twentj'-five names have thus far been added to 



28 History of the Organization and 

the church rolL The church roll has now, for the first time 
in fifty years, been thoroughly revised, and it is expected that 
a church manual will soon be published. 

During Mr. Jewell's pastorate the weekly prayer meetings 
have l)een held in the winter months in the afternoons, with 
satisfactory results. There has also been a Home Department 
organized in connection with the Sunday School. 

The oldest living members of the church are Mrs. Richard 
Mead and Mr. Charles Fancher, who united with the church 
in 1 83 1, and Mr. Samuel Adams, who was received June 2d, 
1900, he being at that time ninet}- years of age. 

Of the former pastors only Revs. Daniel S. Gregory, D.D., 
LL.D., George M. McCampbell, Lyman D. Calkins, D.D., Man- 
ford P. Welcher and Theodore L. VanNorden are now living. 
The pastorates of Revs. Solomon Mead, John Ely. Stephen 
Saunders, Reuben .J^rame, and Aaron L. Lindsley covered a little 
more than one hundred years. 

As before mentioned, the num])er of members in 1852 was 
one hundred ninety-six. The number reported in 1901 is one 
hundred fifty-six, and in the intervening years there has been 
a considerable variation, partly owing to methods of calcula- 
tion, as sometimes names of members who have not li\-ed in 
the place for a long time have remained on the church roll, 
and, in fact, a thorough revision, although several times 
attempted, has just now been completed. Again, the constant 
removal of the young people from the place has for man\- 
years been a drain upon the strength of the church, and ex- 
cept for the many timely additions very few meml)ers would 
have been left. 

Referring to times when a large number have united with 
the church at one time, wc find of the fifty-eight who joined 
in 1866, forty-eight are either dead or lia\-e removed from llie 
place; of the forty-nine receixed in March, 1877, onl>- l\vent\- 
remain ; and e\-en later, of the thirl>-three persons who were 
received !)>■ IcUcr oi' on ])rofe.ssion of I'ailli during Mr. 



Religious Work of the Church. 29 

McCanipbell's pastorate, only thirteen still reside in this place. 

It has seemed best, in following the story of the church 
through the j-ears, to record particularl}- the number added to 
the roll from time to time. This has been done, however, 
onh- as a matter of reference, and not to conve}' the idea that 
the number of persons added to the church is alwa^'s a correct 
measure of the good it has done in the community, or that the 
number of dollars contributed to benevolent objects show 
accurately the amount of sacrifice made by such contributions. 

Influence is something which never has been, and never 
can be, estimated b}' figures or by any meter devised by man, 
and all of the results of the labors of the pastors and their 
wives and of the good men and women who have been con- 
nected with the work of the South Salem Presb^'terian Church 
during its century and a half of life, will not be known until 
the final great accounting. 

In this connection it seems as though special mention 
should be made of the work of the ministers' wives, who, in 
addition to the arduous duties of home life, were ever ready to 
assist the sick or need}^ act in any capacity- as officers or 
workers in the several benevolent societies which were con- 
trolled by the ladies of the congregation, and for that matter, 
to answer prompth' and efficiently the many calls for work, 
advice or help which constantly come to the wife of a country 
pastor. Of these devoted women the following are still living: 
Mrs. Lindsle}-, Mrs. Gregory, and we would include Mrs. 
Owen, though her husband was not a settled pastor of the 
church, Mrs. Calkins, Mrs. Welcher, Mrs. VanNorden and 
Mrs. Jewell ; but whether they live or whether they " rest 
from their labors," their names are held in grateful remem- 
brance and " their works do follow them." 



The statement made on page i i of Chapter I, tliat " this portion of the 
town of Salem was at that time, and for some years later, a part of the colony 
of Connecticut," is incorrect. The boundary line was changed in 1734. 




CHAPTER II. 
Church Property, Buildings and Music. 



/. — The CJiunh Property. 

IT seems like going ver}- far into the past to .speak of the 
time when George the Second ruled over the provinces 

of New York and Connecticut. But we must go back 
that far to discover the first gift of land to the Presbyterian 
Church of vSouth vSaleni. This deed begins as follows : 

' ' To all Christian people to whom these presents shall 
come : greeting, Know ye that we the signers and .sealers of 
this instrument for and in consideration of our love and good 
will for the inhabitants of vSalcni in the County of We.stchester 
and province of New York and for the advancement of the 
Redeemer's Kingdom amongst them."* Then follows the 
usual covenants, with a description of the property deeded 
and the statement that, " it is to and for the use and improve- 
ment of the first Presbyterian or Independent minister that 
shall l)e settled and ordained in the said town of Salem and to 
his successors for ever. Dated December 23rd, 1751, and in 
the 25th year of the reign of our vSovereign lyord, George the 
Second, King." The signers are: Jonah Keeler, Benjamin 
Keeler, Thaddeus Crane, Benjamin Bjnedict and elex'en oilier 
owners. 

About six montlis after lliis, Rew vSolomon Mead was 
ordained and installed o\er the l-'irsl IndepL-ndeiit Cluircli of 

* Sec fac simile, l';ij;c o 



Church Property, Buildings and Music. 31 

Salem. He and his successors have had the use of tliis land, 
or its equivalent, ever since. 

The land occupied by the church, and that part used as a 
burial ground, seems to have been purchased in two parcels. 
A deed for one acre was given by Thomas Rockwell of Nor- 
walk. Conn., to Josiah Gilbert, in the year 1760, the con- 
sideration being three pounds, York money, or, in present 
currency, seven dollars and fifty cents. This was evidently 
merely a nominal consideration, as it is stated that this deed of 
land includes the meeting house and .school house on the same. 
The land probably lay open to the highway, and having been 
alread}' occupied for church and school purposes, and also 
as a burial ground, this deed was given to Josiah Gilbert, 
representing the Presb3'terian vSociety, so that the title might 
be clear. On February i6th, 1784, Thomas Rockwell exe- 
cuted a second deed. The deed at this time was to the deacons 
and elders of the church in Salem, giving their names in full. 
The amount of land this time sold was one-quarter of an acre, 
and was bounded partly by the acre mentioned above. It is 
not easy to understand the cause of this, but it is certain that 
it all thereafter belonged to the Presbyterian Society, as 
inventories, taken at different times a few years later, mention 
this one and a quarter acres as part of the assets of the 
Society. 

In the year 1801 the following change was made: Mr. 
Mead had alwaj's lived on his own farm, but after his resig- 
nation the trustees applied to the legislature for permission to 
sell about fifty acres of their unimproved lands, and a special 
act was passed giving them this authority. They then sold 
forty-eight acres and twenty-two rods, to eight different pur- 
chasers, for the sum of four hundred eighty-nine dollars and 
fourteen cents. 

With this and other money they then purchased, for 
eight hundred eighty-two dollars, of George Cadwise, fifty-six 
acres of land formerly belonging to Thaddeus Rockwell, and 



33 The Church Property. 

adjoining the church yard. This kind was first given by 
trust deed to Abijah Gilbert, and he sold twenty-three acres of 
it to one Aaron Keeler, for twenty-three dollars and fifty cents 
per acre. He then deeded the balance to the Presb}-terian 
Society, for use as a parsonage and the support of the minister. 
These changes were nuicli to the ad\-antage of both the 
minister and the society. 

In December of this same year it was voted to purchase 
one hundred apple trees, and have them set out on the par- 
sonage land. The few very old trees remaining on the land 
are probably part of that orchard .set out just one hundred 
years ago. 

At the time of purchase, there mu.st have been a log 
hou.se on this property-, as ^Ir. Kl>- lived in a log hou.se for a 
sluM't time after coming to this church as pastor. In a few 
months, however, a new house was Ijuilt, and, a short time 
later, a barn. This house, with a good many additions and 
changes, was the residence of the successive ministers until 
the present jxarsonage was built, in iSSS. A part of the old 
one was taken down, but the ])art built in Mr. Ivly's time was 
m()\e(l (lirectl>- across the street, and is now owned l)y Miss 
Carrie A. Ivly, a granddaughter of Mi'. I-"l>'. The l)arn was 
finally torn down, about 1.S62, and a new one l)uilt. This 
.second one was destroyed l)y fire, in iSSs, and was replaced 
by the barn and carriage house now in use. 

The building used as a lecture rooai, and for town pur- 
po.ses, was erected in 1S40. The funds necessar\- for this 
work were rai.sed by subscrijition. In 1S52, a ]K-tition was 
made to the Count\' Court for ])eniiission to sell al)out fifteen 
acres of the ^xu-sonage land. The c-onrt directed that lliis 
land be sold, and tlie proceeds invested in bond and mortgage 
or other secniities, and that the trustees ap])l\- the interest 
deri\ed tlierefroni toward the support of the (iOS])el in .said 
elimxli and c-oiigregation. These fifteen acres were accord- 
ingly sold to Henry 1). Keeler and Aaron Keeler. 



Church Property, Buildings and Music. 
//. — The ChurcJi Bui/diiios. 



33 



There is some doubt as to the exact time when the first 
church was erected on the present site. It is certain that 
reUgious services were, for some time, held in a log building 
situated in a field nearly opposite the present residence of Miss 
Mary E. Webster, and tradition says that Mr. Mead for some 
time preached in this building; but an old deed, covering the 
present site and part of the churchyard, says : " Including the 
meeting-house and schoolhouse on the same ' ' ; and as this 
deed was executed April 14, 1760, it is evident that the old 
church was built prior to that date, and consequently less than 
eight years after the organization of the church. 




The Hear 
House 



Hh Church of 1820 

i^By permission of Bolton's History} 



This building, with some few alterations and repairs, was 
used until 1826, when the new church, built directly in the 
rear of the old one, was ready for use. 

It is not possible to learn exactly when the first burials 
took place in the adjoining churchyard, as many of the oldest 
stones either had no dates, or else these dates have become 
illegible during the century and a half which has passed. 



34 The Chl!R(:h Bliildings. 

There is no item of interest which connects itself with the 
church Iniilding until the beginning of the Revolution. At 
that time a public meeting was called in the meeting-house for 
the purpose of organizing a militia companj-. The company 
then formed soon after saw hard service, under General Mont- 
gomery's command in both the expedition into Canada, and 
the attack on Quebec, when General Montgomery was killed. 
This information comes from one of the present elders, John 
F. Bouton, whose grandfather was one of that company. 

There are several people now living who attended service 
in the old church during their childhood. Among them 
Messrs. Harvey Mead, Charles Fancher, Samuel Adams, Mrs. 
Richard Mead, and Mrs. Mary L,ane ; and from them has 
been obtained a pretty good description of the building as it 
appeared about the year 1820. The building, which was 
situated exactly in front and close to the site of the present 
church, was small and houselike, or, except for the windows, 
we might almost say barnlike, in outward appearance, as there 
was no chinniey or steeple. The entrances were at the south, 
and the pulpit at the north end. The pulpit was high and 
.small, and directly beneath it, facing the congregation, was 
the seat occupied by the elders, and known as the "deacons' 
seat." There were narrow galleries, and the pews in the 
body of the church were of the ancient style, with high backs 
and sides. A single aisle through the middle separated the 
rows of pews, which reached from this aisle to the sides of the 
building. 

According to the custom of the time, no fire was allowed 
in the building, except such as the ladies brought from home 
in their foot-stoves. Sometimes, however, the cold winters 
seems to have had some effect, even on that hardy generation, 
as, for instance, at the annual meeting in December, 1805, "it 
was voted that some wood ])e given to kee]") fires in the school- 
house on Sabbath days, at noon, between meetings." This 
would give the worshipers a chance to "thaw out" while 



Church Propkrty, Buildings and Music. 35 

eating their lunch, which they usually brought with them. 
It was also voted that the west door be fastened up during the 
winter. 

The salary of the sexton in those daj-s surely would not 
now be considered as excessive. In 1809 James Hoyt took 
charge of the meeting-house for one j-ear for one dollar and 
fifty cents, but the salary was raised in 1810, when Job Rock- 
well received two dollars. 

Some time before 1820 a chimney must have been erected 
in the church, as in that }'ear it was voted to purchase a stove 
for the meeting-house. Whether this was actually done is not 
known, for shortly after this, in January, 1823, at a special 
meeting, it was voted to try and raise twenty-five hundred 
dollars by subscription to build a new meeting-house, and 
from that time on all efforts were with this end in view. In 
March of the same year it was voted "to go on and build the 
meeting-house with what money we have got signed," and in 
September following a resolution was passed ' ' that the site 
of the meeting-house should not be altered, and that the 
trustees shall decide whether to build of brick or wood." It 
is difficult to arrive at the cost of the building, as very much 
of the work was done by members of the congregation, and a 
great deal of the lumber, and nearly or quite all of the timber 
was either given, or cut and drawn from the parsonage wood- 
land. The cash book of the trustees, show\s paid-up sub- 
scriptions of about twenty-five hundred dollars, but the value 
of work and timber furnished would be purely guesswork. 

There are those now living who remember some things 
regarding the building of the church which are worth re- 
cording. One lady of the congregation, who had just married, 
lived at home with her father for a year, because her husband 
had promised a certain amount of labor and timber for the 
church building, and consequently delayed the building of his 
own house for a year. This lady is Mrs. Richard Mead, at 
the present time 96 years old. Mr. Charles Fancher states 



36 The Cm'Kcn Bciloings. 

tlial the i)ill;ir.s for the binklin,i^, of which there were six, 
reacliinj; from the l^oor through the gallery to the ceiling, 
were so long that there was no shop in the communit}' where 
they could be turned, hence they were drawn to the barn, on 
the place now occupied by Mr. T. L,. \'an Norden, and placed 
in lathes set upon the barn floor. Here, with a man to turn 
each lathe, and others to use the chisels, they were fashioned 
by hand to the required shape. 

The day when the frame was ready to raise was a general 
holiday, and the men from far and near came to assist. Any 
of the older people who have ever attended an old fashioned 
raising, can readily picture the scene of the small army of men, 
working under the command of the " boss " carpenters, James 
Eggleston and vStephen Pardee. x\bout noon the ladies 
arrived with great (juantities of j'jrovisions and hot coffee, 
which were spread before the hungry men on boards and 
timbers. The raising of the frame was completed in the after- 
noon, without serious accident. Building in those days was a 
very slow ]iroce.ss, and although work was begun in 1824, the 
church was not completed until .sometime in 1826, as .shown 
In- the trustees' cash l)o()k. 

Xo changes of nutch importance were made in the church 
until tlie year 1S72. All the older ])eople will distinctl}' 
remember the old church's appearance : the two entrances at 
the .south end ; the two aisles, with double rows of .scats 
through the middle, and shorter .seats on the sides reaching 
to the walls ; the galleries, with their four tiers of seats ex- 
tending around three sides of the building, and the high pul- 
pit on the south end, reached b\ a llight of stairs on each side. 

The inside of the church was entirely changed and 
rei)aired in 1872, and some changes also made in the outside 
of the building, the total cost of which was between .seven and 
eight thousand dollars. The interior was entirely refitted with 
new pulpit and furniture, ])lace;l at the north end, with an 
extension ]>ehind for the organ and choir, new pews, arranged 



Church Property, Buildings and Music. 37 

with a centre aisle, and one on each side next the wall, and 
new carpet. The galleries were removed, and the old belfry 
converted into a gallery, over the vestibule at the south end. 
The wood work was newly painted, and the walls frescoed. 

The appearance of the exterior was verj' much improved 
by the removal of the small doors at the front entrance, and 
substitution of large double doors. The spire was remodeled, 
and the two rows of windows, wath their square sashes and 
blinds, were replaced by the circular form of Gothic window, 
with ground glass. 

The first bell for the church was bought in 1831. 
December 30th, 1830, it was voted that three hundred dollars 
be raised by subscription, to purchase a bell, and an entry in 
1 83 1, shows that Jacob Gilbert gave forty dollars to be 
expended in ringing it. The story of its first ringing is 
interesting. Mr. Gilbert, who was alwaj'S very active, and 
also very liberal in all good undertakings, w^as upon his death- 
bed when the bell arrived ; and he expressed a desire to hear 
it rung before he died. Accordingh*, the bell was hung on a 
limb of the large oak tree, west of the church, and rung for 
some time, that his wish might be gratified. This bell was 
exchanged in 1846, for a new one, wdiich remained in use for 
many years, until a bad flaw in the side spoiled its tone, when 
it, in turn, gave place to a new one, wdiich after a short time, 
was spoiled in the same way, and was exchanged for the one 
now used. 

The first organ was purchased in 1863, and was used 
until 1894. In that year, through the efforts of the Home 
Society, a new and much larger one was purchased at a cost of 
about eighteen hundred dollars, and before this instrument 
was placed in the church, the interior of the building was 
redecorated, and various improvements and repairs completed. 
The work of decoration was performed by Arthur Keeler, a son of 
the late Harvey Keeler, who did the work in an artistic and 
very satisfactory manner. On November 7th, when every- 



38 The Music. 

thing was completed, an organ recital, largely attended 
and greatly enjo^xd by the audience, was given by the firm 
that built the organ. The proceeds were to augment the 
treasury of the Home Society, and therefore to help pay 
for the organ. 

The latest improvement was the building, in the summer 
of 1901, of church parlors, by adding fourteen feet on the 
north, and extending this and the choir room forty feet east, 
making two rooms upstairs, a kitchen, and room for a furnace 
in the basement. This building is used by the Sunday-school 
and all prayer meetings, as well as for social gatherings, the 
cost being about sixteen hundred dollars. The Home Society 
had planned, at the time of its organization, to undertake the 
Imilding of these parlors at once, but the calls for other 
improvements and necessar>- repairs on the church ])r{)]K*rt\-, 
delayed the work for more than twenty years. 

III. — The Music. 

This history would l)e incomplete were we to omit the 
music, the excellence of which was, during what may be called 
the ])almy days of this society, proverbial. 

We are limited, however, to the briefest mention of an 
epoch in wliich was laid the foundation of the exceptionally 
good vocal music for which South Salem was long distin- 
guished. Sixty years ago, or early in the 'forties, Joshua 
Hall, a singing teacher from W-rmont, came into the ])lace 
and was engaged for two or three successive winters to give 
instruction in the art of vocal music. He was a most thorough 
teacher ; and as there was no lack of nuisical talent among 
his pupils, the result was a choir of such proportion and i)ro- 
ficiency as few country churches could boast. 

For more than forty years the Pre.sbyterian Church of 
South Salem was distinguished for its large and well-trained 
choir : Squire Lawrence, vStephen Howe, and Kdward L,aw- 



Church Property, Buildings and Music. 39 

rence, among its efficient leaders ; Miss Hulclah Keeler, Mr. 
and Mrs. Webster B. Hull, Mr. and Mrs. I^ewis Benedict, the 
Misses Lavinia and Julia Keeler, Miss Maria Keeler, Frederick 
Smith, Rufus Hoyt, David Rudd, and many more ; a long 
roll of names deserving an honored place on the pages of 
this church's history. 

Let it not be inferred for a moment that we would speak 
disparagingh- of the present choir : far from that. The musi- 
cal reputation which characterized the church in the days 
gone by, has ever since been maintained, to a certain extent, 
and in a few instances a much higher degree of culture is 
apparent than was shown in the old daj'S. 

The efficiency of the present organist, Mrs. Henry L. vSt. 
John, who has presided at the organ for thirty-one years, and 
that without any regular salary; the faithfulness of the present 
choir leader, Samuel H. Lawrence, and for the other members 
of the choir, are well known and greatly appreciated by the 
church and congregation of toda}-. 

IV. — Trust Fiinds of the Society. 

On June i8th, 1828, the trustees executed a bond to 
Stephen Gilbert and Thomas Mead, executors of the will of 
William Rockw^ell, binding themselves and their successors in 
office to comply with the conditions of the will, by which one 
thousand dollars w^as left in trust, the interest only to be used 
by the trustees, and in case the society should change its 
connection and principles of discipline, or should use the 
principal sum, the legacy was to be forfeited to the heirs. In 
1833, a legacy of one hundred dollars was received from the 
estate of Jacob Gilbert, under similar conditions. Since 1884, 
three members of one family have given the following amounts, 
only the interest from which is to be used by the church : 
Hancey Keeler, one thousand dollars ; Sally Keeler, five 
hundred dollars ; and Aaron Keeler, eight hundred dollars. 




CHAPTER III. 

SOCIKTIKS AND ORGANIZATIONS CONNECT]".D WITH 

THE Church. 



/. — The Foiialc ( ha ri fable Soeie/v. 

The Female Charitable Society, one of the oldest, and 
perhaps the oldest organization, of the kind connected with the 
Presbyterian Chnrch of the United States, was organized at 
the parsonage on Tnesda}-, November 14th, 1S15. IMolh- 
Mead was chosen president ; Electa E. Bnrbank, secretary ; 
and Hannah Lawrence, treasurer ; and the names of the 
charter members include the ancestors of many of the present 
members, and represent most of the old families of the 
place. 

In the constitution, which was adopted at the time, it was 
stated that the object of the society was to aid the cause of 
missions ; and, with the exception of a few dollars, gi\en the 
first year toward the ])astor's salary, all of the receipts have 
been devoted to missionary work. For several years after its 
organization a ]>ortion of the receipts of the society was given 
to the " Heathen vSchool in America." 

The membership fee has always been fifty cents, paid 
annually, though .some members have annually given one cent 
])er week. 

For a number of ^ears a sermon or address was deli\ered 



Societies and Organizations. 41 

by the pastor at the annual meeting, but this practice has 
long been discontinued. The minutes furnish nothing of 
particular interest, as the society has held but one meeting 
each year, and that for the election of officers and to appro- 
priate its funds to some specific work. 

The eightieth anniversary of the society was celebrated 
by special services in the church, on the evening of November 
14th, 1895. 

The annual receipts have varied from about fourteen to 
upwards of forty dollars, and the total receipts during the 
eighty-six years of the existence of the society have amounted 
to a little over two thousand dollars. 

//. — The Female Befievolent Association. {Eastern.') 

Under this name a missionary society was organized at 
the parsonage, in South Salem, on May 28th, 1834. Part of the 
first record book is missing, including the first list of members; 
but in 1839 there were sixty-two members, and their meetings 
were held on the Thursday afternoon before the full moon in 
each month. 

Various kinds of work were undertaken, and the proceeds 
from it were usually devoted to foreign missions. No gentle- 
men were allowed at these afternoon meetings, but after a 
few years the custom changed ; the meetings were continued 
into the evening, and the gentlemen were expected to arrive 
in time to partake, with the ladies, of a supper provided by 
the lady at whose home the meeting was held. The regular 
bill of fare was bread and butter, tea, one kind of cake, and 
apple sauce. For this each one was expected to pay ten 
cents. Later on the afternoon meetings were discontinued, 
and the meeting became a social evening gathering, and was 
held on the Wednesday evening before the full moon. This 
custom is still followed, the supper provided being not quite 
so plain as formerly, and furnished by contributions from the 



42 The Female Benevolent Society. (Western.) 

congregation ; twenty-five cent.s is the amount usually ex- 
pected for the entertaiinnent from each one present. There 
was one year, about twenty-five or thirty years ago, when the 
society voted to dispense with the supper, but the meetings, 
or, as one gentleman styled them, " the famines," were not 
successful, and it was voted to return to the custom of feeding 
the people. 

On account of missing records, it is not possible to give 
exact figures of the sums of money contributed by the society, 
but the total would probably be somewhere between three and 
four thousand dollars. Usually the money has been voted to 
the Board of Foreign Missions ; although there have been 
exceptions to this rule. 

///. — The Female Benevolent Soeiefy. ( IVestern.) 

On account of the large territory included within the 
l)ounds of the South Salem congregation, it was thought best 
by the ladies to organize a second missionary society, in the 
western part of the parish, and this was done November 19th, 
1839. Mrs. Margaret Frame was elected first directress ; Mrs. 
Theodosia Reynolds, second directress ; and Mrs. Lucinda 
Todd, secretary and treasurer. There were thirty-one charter 
meml)ers, but as in the case of the eastern society, some of the 
records are missing. 

The objects and methods of the two societies were 
practically the same, excei)t tliat the western society devoted 
its funds to aid the cause of domestic missions. It has been 
the custom of this societ>-, from the time of its organization 
until the ])resent, to meet with the different nicmljers on the 
finst W'ednesday afternoon of each month, except July and 
August, adjourning after supper, which is furnished by the 
hoste.ss. 

The funds contributed to domestic or home missions 
amount to between one and two thousand dollars. 



SoaETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS. 43 

IV. — T/ie Dorcas Society. 

This society was organized by a meeting of ladies held at 
the parsonage, in January, 1874, with a board of officers and 
board of managers. The officers elected at this meeting were 
Mrs. Thomas M. Gray, president ; Mrs. Charlotte F'ancher, 
vice-president ; lyUcy G. Mead, secretary and treasurer. The 
constitution states that "the object of this society is to pro- 
vide, from time to time, supplies of clothing for the relief of 
indigent persons in South Salem and elsewhere." 

Besides furnishing clothing and other supplies to our own 
needy ones, this society has each year sent away a box of 
clothing and bedding : for sixteen years, to the Home of the 
Friendless, New York City ; two years, to mission schools 
among the Indians, and the remaining eleven years, to Park 
College, Missouri. The estimated value of these boxes for 
eighteen years is one thousand one hundred eleven dollars. 
There is no record of appraisal for the other nine years. 

V. — T/ie Home Society. 

The Home Society was organized at a meeting of the 
L,adies' Benevolent AvSsociation, held at the home of Cyrus 
Lawrence, 2d, January 28tlr, 1880. A president and secretary 
were elected, and a committee appointed to draft a constitu- 
tion and by-laws. At a subsequent meeting, on the nth of 
the following February, the report of the committee was 
accepted and a constitution adopted. Four years later it was 
duly incorporated under the laws of the State of New York, 
so that the society might do business on its own account and 
have a legal manager for its funds. Of the ten incorpora- 
tors only six are now living. 

The object of the organization is stated thus, in the second 
article of its incorporation : ' ' The society is formed for the 
purpose of improving and embellishing the property of the 



44 Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. 

Presbyterian Church and congregation, and for making such 
alterations and repairs thereon, by consent of the trustees of 
said society, as may from time to time seem to us to be 
proper." The society reached its majority last winter, being 
then twenty-one years of age, and it has certainly succeeded 
admirabl\- thus far in accomplishing the purposes for which 
it was formed. During that time a new parsonage has been 
built, and also a new barn on the parsonage property, to 
replace one which was burned ; a new organ has been pur- 
chased, and the inside of the church re-decorated and thor- 
oughly repaired ; and most of the money for all of these 
improvements has been furnished by the Home Society. It 
has also from time to time made many minor repairs, paid 
insurance on the buildings, and is at present using all of the 
funds it can raise to pay for the recently constructed church 
parlors, and for furnishing the same. 

The net earnings in the different years have varied from 
$172 to $612. The most successful year, financially, was 1S89, 
when the net proceeds of the fair, including profit on the 
"Old Oaken Bucket," a paper issued by the society, amounted 
to $524.50, and the total gain for the year was, as stated above, 
$612. There have been six years in the history of the societ\- 
when the net receipts have exceeded five hundred dollars per 
year, and eleven years when they have exceeded four hundred 
dollars. The total amount received and expended to date of 
November, 1901, is about nine thousand dollars, exclusive of 
gifts of about six hundred dollars at the time the new organ 
was ])urchased. There is also a trust fund of $200, receixed 
from the estate of the late Aaron Keeler. 

IV. — Yoiini^ People s. Socidv of C/iristia>i /-'Ndeavor. 

The South vSalem Ivndcavor vSociet\-, was organized Jan- 
uary 20th, 1.S92, through the efTorts of Rev. M. P. W'elcher. 
Rev. J. H. Eastman and Henry R. Barrett, of Katonah, 



Societies and Organizations. 45 

assisted at the organization. There were at this time sixteen 
active, and eight associate members. The first officers elected 
were, George E. Hull, president ; Elmer E. Lawrence, vice- 
president ; Miss Marietta Benedict, corresponding secretary ; 
and Miss Celia A. Banks, treasurer. 

During the ten years since its formation seventy-five 
persons have joined the society as active members. Of this 
number two have died, six have been transferred to the 
honorary list, and twenty-four are .still on the roll. The 
remaining forty-three have joined other .societies, resigned, or 
been dropped from the roll. Of the thirty-nine who have 
joined as associate members twenty have united with the 
church and become active members. 

The home-work of the society has always been actively 
carried on. The regular weekly meeting has always been held 
on Sunday evenings, just before the preaching .service, and on 
certain special occasions has taken the place of that .service. 
The various committees have been a great help in the work of 
the church, by the earnest and faitliful performance of the 
duties for which they were appointed, and the society has 
from time to time voted a portion of its funds to aid in paying 
the current expen.ses of the church. All of the money not 
thus used has been divided between the Home and Foreign 
Mission work. 

Every Christmas the society has sent several boxes of 
useful articles to the New York Flower Mission. 

The receipts to date amount to five hundred fifty dollars. 

l^II. — The Mission Study Circle. 

After a county convention of the Christian Endeavor 
Societies of Westchester County, a company of young people 
returned to their home church with a resolution to study 
missions, the result of which was " The Mi.ssion Study Circle," 
organized March 14th, 1899. This cla.ss does ju.st what its name 



46 Junior Christian Endeavor Society. 

si Jellifies — studies missions, meeting every two weeks. The 
original and present officers are, Charlotte E. Hull, president ; 
Abbie E. Rockwell, vice-president ; Elizabeth Lawrence, 
secretary and treasurer. 

I'll I. — Junior Christian Endeavor Society, 

A Junior Endeavor Society was organized in June, 1901, 
through the efforts of Mrs. Jewell, with sixteen members. 
The Junior meetings are held ever}- Saturday afternoon, and 
conducted by Mrs. Jewell, or her assistant. Miss Elizabeth 
Lawrence. The work of this society is very encouraging, and 
three of its members have already united with the church. 

IX. — Sn )i da\ 'sc/iool. 

It is difficult to find out exactly the time when the first 
Sunday-school was organized, as there is no record of any 
kind, prior to about 1857, by which one would know that there 
was any school connected with the church, and that record 
only states that the session elected Stephen G. Howe super- 
intendent. There was, however, a Sunday-school in existence 
as early as about 1820. Mrs. Mary Lane remembers, attending 
when she was six or eight years old Sunday-school on Sun- 
day afternoons, in a large upper room in an old house which 
formerly stood between the present residences of Dr. Lane and 
H. L. St. John, and known as the "Sam Anil)ler House" 
and she thinks the school was just then organized. Why llic 
church wa.s not chosen as tlic meeting place is not known, l)ut 
it is pos.sible that some of the good peoj^lt* of that da\- thought 
that it would not be right. 

Mrs. Lane remembers the names of some of the other 
.scholars of the class, including Clara Adams and Abby Ronton, 
and she .says, the .scholars stood in a row and read in turn, so 
that the teachers .should know how to divide tlKin into cla.sses. 
This goes to show that she remenit)ers the first meeting of the 
Sunday-.school. 



Societies and Organizations. 47 

Mr. William Benedict remembers attending school in this 
same room, with William Ho}-t and his brother Lewis, and 
that Ezra Northrop, "who was a tall man, and very pious," 
was teacher and superintendent. He says also that the school 
afterward met for a time in the " lean-to " of Gould Hawley's 
store. How long these buildings were used as places of 
meeting is not known, but several of the old people now 
living, remember that, a few years later the bell-room was 
used for that purpose. This was a room in the church, directly 
over the lower hall, and just back of the pulpit, a large bare 
place, with a rope hanging through the ceiling ; for it was 
here that the .sexton came at the proper times to ring the 
church bell, occasionally taking a peep into the pulpit, through 
a curtained window, to see if the minister was yet in his place. 

In later years this room was used by the primary class of 
the Sunday-school, during the summer months. Messrs. Jared 
Bouton, Josiah Gilbert, and Mo.ses Pardee were at different 
times performing the duties of superintendent, but no records 
of the school prior to about i860 are in existence. The 
number of scholars from that time to the present has varied 
from one hundred to about one hundred eighty. One 
remarkable feature has always been the large number of adults 
in attendance, including some old people, who have been 
present at most of the sessions of the school for forty or fifty 
years. 

The contributions of the school have been v^ery regular, 
and for man}' years have amounted to upwards of one hundred 
dollars per year. Most of this money has been devoted to 
missionary objects, very little of it being used for the necessary 
expenses of the school itself. 

There have been times when the sessions have been sus- 
pended for about two months during the winter, but in later 
years the school has convened on every Sabbath in the year, 
with the exception of an occasional stormy one. 




CHAPTER IV. 
Biographies of Pastors. 



REV. SOLOMON MEAD 

Solomon Mead was born December 3d, 1725, at Green- 
wich, Conn., and was a direct descendant of one of the original 
settlers of that town. He was the fifth son of Kbenezer Mead, 
and spent his early days at home. He was gradnated from 
Yale College in 1748. He came to Salem when abont twenty- 
five or twenty-six years of age, and after a short time organized 
a cluirch there, and was then ordained and installed as its first 
pastor in 1752. 

Why he chose this place for his life work is not known, 
l)nt he was at an early date the owner of a large tract of land 
in this vicinity, and this may have been a reason for his 
choosing to settle here. He was married Jannary i.st, 1755, 
to Hainiah vStrong, of Stanford, Conn., who died October 
20th, 1761. He was married the .second time, Jannary Stli, 
1765, to Hannah Clark, of Waterbnry, Conn., who died 
November 13th, iSog. 

Mr. Mead spent his whole life here, after 1752, and is the 
only one of the j^astors of the chnrch who is bnried in the 
church-yard, close to the scene of his lalior. vSeveral of Mr. 
Mead's descendents still reside in or near vSouth vSalem. Tlie 
following miinite was recorded in the Sessional Records of the 
church, at the time of his death, September 5th, 1812. 



Biographies of Pastors. 49 

" Departed this life, Rev'nd Solomon Mead, aged 86 years, 9 
nios., 2 days. He officiated in the ministry 48 years, 3 mos. 
and 15 days. 

" In his ministry, baptized children and adults, 912 ; and 
married 666. 

' ' Here we see ended a long life of a venerable minister, 
who may be remembered by this church for his great zeal in 
the cause of religion, for his planting a church in this place, 
and in letting his light shine in such a manner as to be 
imitated safely by all." 

REV. JOHN ELY 

John Ely, second pastor of the church, was born at Lyme, 
Conn., June 14th, 1763. He was a graduate of Yale College. 
He married Mary Lord, January 25th, 1791, and was settled 
at Bethel, Conn., in 1792. He remained there about twelve 
years, at the expiration of which time he received a call to the 
South Salem Presbyterian Church, which he accepted, and 
was installed as pastor on November 28th, 1804. 

He remained in this place about eight years, and then 
removed to Guilford, Conn., where he was settled over a 
church for fifteen years. In 1827 he resigned his pastorate 
in Guilford, intending to move to Central New York and 
reside with his son, the late Seth Ely, but while removing his 
goods to a boat for shipment, his horse took fright and ran 
away. Mr. Ely was thrown from the wagon, and so severely 
injured that he died in a few hours. His death occurred 
November 2d, 1827. 

Mr. Ely was the father of eleven children, only six of whom 
lived to maturity. Several of his descendants are still living in 
New York City and in neighboring towns, among them Miss 
Carrie A.Ely, from whom the data for this sketch were obtained. 

REV. JACOB BURBANK 

It has been impossible to find anything at all regarding 



50 RiOGRAPHits 01- I'astors. 

the life of Re\\ Jacol:) Burbank, except those items already 
recorded, durint^ ]iis short stav in South Salem. 



REV. CHARLES F. BUTLER. A. M. 

Charles F. Biitler was born in New Hartford, Conn., 
January 21st, 1790, where he spent his childhood and the 
greater part of his youth. At the age of nineteen, he gave 
him.self to God, and began his studies preparatory to entering 
college. In 18 13 he entered the sophomore class at Yale, and 
was graduated in 1S16. Shortly after leaving college, and 
while studying theology privately, he was invited to take 
charge of the Bedford, N. Y., Academy. Here he remained 
for two years, at the same time continuing his theological 
studies under Rev. Ebenezer Grant. On February loth, 1S17, 
he was married to Miss Amanda Rundle. Shortly afterward 
he was licen.sed to preach by the Congregational As.sociation 
of Fairfield County. He preached his first sermon in the Ik-d- 
ford Presbyterian Church. Several members of the South 
Salem church were present on this occasion, and were much 
plea.sed with the young preacher. The result was that he 
received his first call from the South Salem Church, and 
accepted it. He remained in this place less than three \ears, 
but during his stay more than .seventv members united with 
the church. His health failing, he retired for a rest of several 
years. In 1.S2S, he was called to the church at Greenwich, 
Conn. , where he remained for ten years. Later, he was .settled 
at Stockbridge, N. Y., for two years, and after that in Verona, 
Oneida County, where he remained ten years. Here his wife 
died and was buried, and man\- years later he was laid to rest 
at her side. 

Always in feeble health, he ne\er undertook another pas- 
toral charge, but during the remaining years of his life did 
nuich ew'uigelistic and mi.ssionary work as his strength per- 
mitted. He died at Bedford, N. Y., August 14th, 1S66. Mr. 



Biographies of F^astors. 51 

Butler was the father of eight children, only one of whom, 
Mrs. Sarah B. Robertson, of Manlius, N. Y., is now living. 

REV. STEPHEN SAUNDERS 

It has been impossible to obtain a full biography of Mr. 
Saunders. He is said to have come from Norwalk, Conn., to 
this place, but his other settlements, and the place of his birth, 
the writer has been unable to learn. He was the father of 
three children, and when he resigned the pastorate in South 
Salem, on account of the failure of his health, went with his 
wife and family to Norwalk, Ohio, near which place he owned 
a tract of land. He died there shortly afterward, and, about 
three years later, Mr. Charles Fancher visited his family at 
their home, and went to Mr. Saunders' grave. His daughter 
Harriet and her husband visited the old parsonage in South 
Salem a few years ago, and called on one or two friends, but 
none of these persons seem to have kept their address, or to 
remember their place of residence. 

REV. REUBEN FRAME 

Reuben Frame was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 
on June iS, 1804. After receiving a thorough education, 
graduating from Jefferson College in 1826, and from Princeton 
Theological Seminary, New Jersey, in 1831, he was licensed 
to preach by the Presbytery of New Castle, April 16, 1831. 

For the next thirty-two years Mr. Frame was almost 
uninterruptedly engaged in ministerial and pastoral work. 
He was ordained at Bethel Church, Clermont County, Ohio, 
where he remained in charge from 1831 to 1834. Then a call 
to the Presbyterian Church of South Salem, New York, was 
accepted, resulting in a long and useful pastorate, from 1834 
to 1850 ; at Wappinger's Falls, New York, from 1850 to 1855 ; 
in Fond-du-Lac, Wisconsin, from 1855 to 1859 ; then the 
charge of the church at Morris, Illinois, from 1859 to 1863. 



52 BlOGKAPHIKS OF PaSTORS. 

Duriiij;' this, liis last pastorate, Mr. Frame became almost 
totally blind, which necessitated the giving up of active minis- 
terial work — a great trial to this indefatigable worker — but 
as the "walk by sight" failed the "walk by faith" grew 
stronger. After an operation, performed in New York City, 
partial sight was restored, and although not sufficient to per- 
mit a return to his charge of the Morris Church, Mr. Frame 
frequently preached as a supply, while residing with his 
daughter, Mrs. J. B. Davidson, of Morris, Illinois. In 1875, 
failing health caused Mr. Frame to remove to Chicago, Illinois, 
where he lived with his youngest daughter, Mrs. William 
Oilman, until his death, on March 31, 1891. 

Reuben Frame married Margaret S. Selby, at Flushing, 
Long Island, October, 1S32. Of their eight children (three 
.sons and five daughters) all but the eldest, Sarah Selby, 
were born in South Salem parsonage. The eldest .son, William 
M., died soon after leaving South vSalem. The two remaining 
sons, John Selby and Walter Reul)en, entered the ministry. 
Of Mr. Frame's grand.sons, four are now ministers of the 
Go.spel — one of them a missionary in India — thus helping to 
an.swer his ]ira\-ers for the conversion of the world to Christ. 

The last sixteen years of Mr. Frame's life were happily 
spent with his ever sweet and de\-otcd wife, in the home of 
their yoinigest daughter, Mrs. William Oilman. 

REV. AARON L. LINDSLEY, D. D. 

Aaron Ladner Lindsley was born in the city of Troy, 
New York, March 4, 1S17. His studies were prosecuted at 
the Troy Polytechnic Institute, at Marion College, Missouri, 
and at Union College, vSchenectad\-, New York. For a jiart 
of his theological course he attended I'nion Seminarw New 
\'()rk, but c(>m])leted it in Princeton, New Jerse>-. 

Mr. Lin(lsk->- was coiuerted while in Missouri, and at 
this time devoted himself " to Ood and the far West." He 
was ordained to the work of the Go.spel ministry May 8, 1846. 




Rev. and Mrs. Reuben Fkame 
Rev. and Mrs. A. L. Lindsley 



Biographies of Pastors. 53 

Four days later — May 12, 1846 — he was united in marriage 
with JuHa, tiie youngest daughter of John West, of New 
York City. 

Although the early death of the lad's father necessitated 
iniexpected toils, the little boy never lost sight of the goal of 
his ambition, which was to secure a thorough education. 
Books were among his best friends, and mental labor an inex- 
haustible delight. 

Mr. Lindsley's first field of labor was in Prairieville (now 
Waukesha), Wisconsin, which has of later years become 
famous for its medical springs. To this he went in June, 
1S46. Here, with tireless exertions and in connection with a 
few like-minded servants of God, deep and enduring founda- 
tions for Presbyterianism were laid in the Territory of Wis- 
consin. Here also were plans made for Carroll College, and 
the institution was set on foot by Mr. I^indsley and a few kin- 
dred spirits. The present status of the college abundantly 
justifies the great labor thus expended. While in charge of 
the Waukesha church, as ever in later years, the midnight oil 
was freely burned in pulpit preparation, that there might 
come out of the treasury things new and old. His labors on 
the outward house of God at this time could not be easily 
computed, comprising, as they did, personal toil in burning 
lime for the stone edifice, and hewing black walnut in the 
forest for the inside finishing. The missionary work was con- 
stantly prominent, and the young clergyman spared no labor 
in preparing the way for the future propagators of a sound 
faith. 

But a few years of such excessive and varied toil, added 
to adverse climatic influences, so greatly impaired Mr. Linds- 
ley's health, that it became evident that the path of duty 
pointed to the necessity of a decided change. And so, after a 
winter spent in missionary work at Port Washington, on the 
shore of Lake Michigan, the Providence of God brought him 
to his Bethesda, as he loved to call it, in dear old South vSalem. 



54 Biographies of Pastors. 

This was in June, 1852. Of his life and work there, inchid- 
ing the family school, others who knew him well, and are not 
in danger of being influenced ])y ties of kindred, may give 
their testimony. 

During the sixteen years thus happil_\- spent amidst j^leas- 
ant surroundings and beloved friends, there were many invita- 
tions received to larger and more prominent fields. Although 
often very attractive, in none of them was discerned a leading 
of Providence until a repeated in\itation from the First 
Church of Portland, Oregon, led Mr. Lindsley to take the long 
western journey and reconnoitre the ground. The result was 
a residence of thirty-three years upon the Pacific coast. Here, 
in addition to pulpit and parish labors, were the claims of the 
great untilled missionary field, and the mute pleadings of the 
long-suffering Indian. 

For the Nez Perce Indians Mr. Lindsley 's toil was not 
.spared, and their appreciative affection for him was manifested 
by daily praj-ers for God's blessing upon him. — petitions in 
.some instances continued long after people in the bus}- world 
knew that he had obtained his release. 

After much preparator}- examination of the field, includ- 
ing conversations with General Howard, who had been sta- 
tioned in Alaska, and Secretar}- Seward, who had just visited 
the country, Dr. Lindsley started missions in that Territor}', 
.sending teachers and preachers to that supposedly inhospitable 
region. This work was prosecuted at first at his own expense, 
until later the Board relieved liim from tlie burden. The re- 
cords of eternity alone can reveal the lal)t)r involved, or the 
ble.ssed results from this foinidation work, in that now ra]-)idly 
developing field. 

Just before leaving South Salem, Mr. Lindsley received 
the degree of D. I). . which was conferred by the University of 
New York. The title of LL. D., was bestowed in 1889, by 
Lafayette College. 

While still pastor at Portland, an iiixilation to the cliair 



Biographies of Pastors. 55 

of Pastoral Theology in the San Francisco Seminary led to the 
resignation of his Oregon charge and removal to Oakland, 
California, in December, 1886. A few 3'ears were spent in the 
faithful discharge of the new and very responsible duties thus 
involved, till during his annual vacation, while visiting his 
children at the North, A. L. Lindsley met the accident that 
closed his earthly service. One word only was vouchsafed, 
"\'ictory!" and it was alike comprehensive of completed 
work and near reward. In Portland, Oregon, he " fell asleep " 
August 12, 1 89 1. A marble tablet near the pulpit of the First 
Presbyterian church ser\-es as a permanent reminder of one of 
South Salem's former pastors. Upon it stand inscribed these 
words : 

lln /Iftemor^ 

OF 

AARON LADNER LINDSLEY, D. D., LL. D., 

FOR 

Eighteen Years the 

Honored and Beloved Pastor 

OF THIS Church, 

Preacher, Educator, Philanthropist, 

Organizer of Twenty-two Churches 

IN THE Pacific Northwest. 

Patron and Friend of Missions among Aboriginal Tribes of Idaho and Washing- 
ton, Founder of Evangelical Missions in Alaska, and for the last 
five years of his life, Professor of Practical Theology 
in San Francisco Theological Seminary, 

Who was Born 
March 4th, 1817, 

AND who ENTERED INTO REST 

August 12th, 1891, 
Aged 74 Years. 

"Ubanhs be to ©o^, IHtlbo ijivctb us tbc 
IDictorv!" 



56 Biographies of Pastors. 

REV. DANIEL S. GREGORY. D. D. 

Daniel Seelye Gregory was born at Carniel, New York, a 
few miles northwest of South Salem, August 21, 1832. 

His ancestors, the Gregorys, were among the earliest set- 
tlers of Norwalk, Connecticut, having come over the ocean 
about 1650. On his mother's side, Mr. Gregory was descended 
from the well-known Seelye family that settled in New Canaan, 
Connecticut, not far from the same time that the Gregory 
family settled in Norwalk. 

The education of Mr. Gregory was begun in the countr}- 
school where he and the present Bishop Cyrus D. Foss, D. D., 
LL.D., sat together on the old-fashioned wooden benches to 
receive their early lessons. At the age of seventeen he entered 
the State Normal College, at Albany, New York (by special 
permit of the Secretary of State, as being under the required 
age), from which he was graduated October 3, 1850. 

Nearly three years were devoted to teaching in the public 
.schools. During this time, having made a public profession 
of his faith in Christ, and united with the Gilead church, at 
Carmel, and feeling that he was called to preach the gospel, 
he carried on his preparation for college, completing it at 
North Salem Academy in 1853. Entering Princeton College, 
he was graduated with honors in 1857. 

Passing at once to the Theological vSeminary at Princeton, 
he completed his theological course in the spring of i860, and 
was licensed the same spring. His desire to iK'Come a foreign 
missionary was given up because his health was not deemed 
sufficiently vigorous. He then turned his attention to the 
Home field, and being again disapjiointed, accepted a call to the 
South Presl)yterian Church, Galena, Illinois. Here he was 
ordained by the Presbytery of Rock Island, in February, 1861. 

Mr. Gregory filled llic following successive pastorates : 
the South Presbyterian Church, Galena, Illinois; the Second 
Presbyterian Church, Troy, New York ; and the Third Con- 



Biographies of Pastors. 57 

gregational Church, New Haven, Connecticut. As the work 
in the latter was being laid down, a unanimous call came from 
the church at South Salem, New York, in response to which 
Mr. Gregory entered upon the w^ork there, in the spring of 
1869. 

In the summer of 1871, two calls to educational work 
came unsought, and, reluctantly, he asked to be released from 
his charge. He accepted the chair of I^ogic and Metaphysics 
in the University of Wooster, Ohio, and from, 1 878-1 8S6 was 
President of I^ake Forest Universit}-. 

In 1885 he delivered the course of lectures on the L,. P. 
Stone Foundation before the Princeton Theological Seminary. 
He was managing editor of the "Standard Dictionary," 
i890-'94, and since 1895 has been editor of " The Homiletic 
Review." 

During the years since he left South Salem, Dr. Gregory 
has published among other books the following important 
ones : " Christian Ethics," " Key to the Go.spel," " Christ's 
Trumpet Call to the Ministry," " Practical Logic," and " The 
Crime of Christendom." Besides these, Dr. Gregory has been 
a contributor to the magazines, daily and weekly papers. 

From Princeton Universit}- he received the degrees of 
A. B., A. M., and D. D., and from the University' of Wooster, 
the degree of UL. D. 

He married, in i860, Jane Brown, daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. Christopher C. Brown, of Croton Falls, New York, who 
died during his pastorate in Troy. During his New Haven 
pastorate, he married Miss Harriet By ram, adopted daughter 
of Rev. Dr. David N. and Mary De Klyn Halliday. 

Dr. Gregory is now living in New York City with his 
wife and daughter, their only surviving child. 

REV. THOMAS M. GRAY 

The Rev. Thomas M. Gray was a member of the Presby- 
tery of Westchester from its organization in 1870 until his 



58 Biographies of Pastors. 

death, which occurred at Salem Center, New York, December 
24, 18S3, in the fifty-fourth \ear of his age. 

Mr. Gray was the son of the Rev. Dr. John Gray, for 
many years the eminent pastor of the Presbyterian church in 
Easton, Pennsyh'ania. 

Graduating from Lafayette College in 1851, and from 
Princeton Theological Seminary in 1855, he began his minis- 
try in Bridgehampton, Long Island, where he was ordained 
and installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church in 1856. This 
pastorate continued for nearh' ten years. 

After supplying for a time the Mansfield Church in New 
Jersey, and the Huntingdon Valley church in Pennsylvania, 
he removed to Connecticut, and became the acting pastor of 
the Congregational Church in Derby for nearly five }-ears. 

Preferring the Pre.sbyterian, in 1871 he accepted a call to 
the church in South Salem, New York, and was installed pas- 
tor there November 8. After a ministr}- here for more than 
four years the pastoral relation was dissolved March 15, 1876. 

After preaching for a time in the Church of North Salem, 
he became pastor of the Presb}-terian Church at New Lebanon, 
New York. It was here that his wife died, and from the 
shock of that bereavement he never recovered, his health be- 
coming so enfeebled that he was obliged to give up his charge 
at New Lebanon. Then he returned to North Salem, where 
the remainder of his life was spent, preaching to the congre- 
gation there as his strength would permit. 

During the last year of his life he was entirel\- unable to 
take any active service, patiently awaiting the time of his de- 
parture. 

The Presbytery of Westchester bears cheerful testimon>- 
to the fidelity and value of Mr. Gray's t\venty-fi\e years of 
service in the ministry. 

He preached the tnilli with the earnestness of con\-iction, 
and the seed sown in liis se\-eral fields has \ielded l)lessed 
fruit. 



BlOGRAPHIHS OF PaSTORS. 59 

REV., GEO. M. MC CAMPBELL 

Mr. McCampbell was graduated from Hanover College 
June, 1862 ; and in the 3'ear 1870 that college conferred upon 
him the honorarj- degree of A. M. His theological course, of 
three years, was spent at Princeton Theological Seminary, 
New Jersey, entering Princeton just before the close of the 
War of the Rebellion, during part of which struggle, he was 
" aide-de-camp," Corps of Engineers, Seventh Division, Army 
of the Cumberland, under Gen. Geo. \V. Morgan. Entering 
the Theological Seminary in September, 1863, he was grad- 
uated therefrom April 24, 1866. 

He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery 
of New Albany, at JeflFersonville, Indiana, his native place, 
and in the church founded and builded by his grandfather, 
Dr. Samuel Meriwether, and in which, as a 3'oung man, Mr. 
McCampbell had been sexton, choir-master and superintendent 
of the Sabbath-school ; preaching his first sermon, and before 
the Presb3'tery, in the same church. 

Was ordained by the Presbytery of the Potomac, and in- 
stalled pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Alexandria, 
Virginia, fall of 1866. Received the call to said church before 
leaving Theological Seminary. 

In July, 1868, was invited to supply the pulpit of the 
Fifth Avenue (Old Brick Church) Chapel, New York City. 
He accepted, and remained there until called to the pulpit of 
the First Presbyterian Church of Maj'sville, Kentucky, the 
same 3'ear. 

He was called from Maysville to the pastorate of Old 
Spring Street Church, New York City, in October, 1872. 
Resigning in 1876, he became acting pastor of The Church of 
the Incarnation, Brooklyn, New York, from 1877 to January, 
1879. Was then called to First Presbyterian Church of Peoria, 
Illinois, and at same time to Christ Church of same city. 
Declined both calls, and accepted the call to become pastor of 



60 Biographies of Pastors. 

the Presbyterian Church of South Salem, New York, January 
4, 1879, being installed March 12, same year, at 2 o'clock 

p. M. 

Resigned from South Salem Church July, 1882, and ac- 
cepted the call of the First Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 
Staten Island, New York, becoming Dr. J. E. Rockwell's 
successor for seven years. Was installed November 23, 1882, 
resigning, from ill health, vSeptember, 1889. After a year and 
five months' retirement from the pastoral office, he accepted 
the call of the First Presbyterian Church of Middletown, 
Ohio, Februar}^ 1891. He resigned November, 1895, on ac- 
count of impaired health, after five years, and after the erec- 
tion of the costly church edifice of that city. 

After a ministry of twenty-nine 3'ears, Mr. McCampbell 
retired from the active ministry to engage in l)usiness in 
Indianapolis, Indiana, and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, until his 
acceptance of the urgent call of the Presbyterian Church of 
Millvale, Allegheny, Pa., April 8, 1901. He was installed 
there, and is at this time the pastor. 

REV. LYMAN D. CALKINS. D. D. 

Lyman I). Calkins was l)()rn in Ih'ooklyn, New York. 
January 13, 1845, and at the age of thirteen publicl>' confessed 
Christ. He attended Williams College — whose princii)al at- 
tractions were its beautiful and healthful location, its religious 
atm()S])here, and its prince of teachers, Mark Hopkins — grad- 
uating here in 1867, and from Princeton Theological vSeminar\- 
in 1.S70. 

Mr. Calkins has had charge of the Presb}-terian church 
at Muncy, Pennsylvania, from 1 871-1873, where he was 
ordained ; of the Park Street Congregational Church, W^est 
vSpringfield, Massachusetts, from 1S73-1S83; of .South Saluiii 
Presbyterian Church, from 1SS3-KS86; of Trinit_\' (now 
Central) Presl^^terian Church, Brooklyn, from 1 886-1 8S9 ; of 



Biographies of Pastors. 61 

the Presbyterian Church at Far Rockaway, New York, from 
1 890-1901. 

Mr. Calkins was married to Mary Hepburn Rankin, May 
13, 1874. They had three children — Marion (now Mrs. John 
B. B. Douglas) ; David Osbert, who died in 1894, aged seven- 
teen ; and William Rankin, who died in 1893, aged thirteen 
years. 

We conclude this brief sketch in Mr. Calkins' own 
words : ' ' Permit me to declare anew my faith and love 
towards God, my acceptance of the Bible as God's word, and 
my conviction that Jesus Christ is the only and all-suflficient 
Saviour of all who come unto God through Him." 



REV. MANFRED P. WELCHER 

Manfred P. Welcher was born on a farm at Newark, 
New York, October 29, 1850. Formal education began by 
learning the alphabet from the raised letters of the cooking 
stove ; then followed in due time and order the old red school- 
house ; the "Newark Union Free School and Academy;" 
Cortland State Normal School ; Rochester Collegiate Institute, 
graduating from Williams College in 1877, and from Union 
Theological Seminary in 1880. This course was interrupted 
by two seasons of teaching, which helped to supply the money 
needed in addition to parental generosity and sacrifice. He 
was called to his first pastorate in Pleasantville, New York, in 
1880, thence, in 1888, to South Salem, where he served for over 
five years on this historic ground, afterward supplying the 
Reformed Church in Peekskill and the Presbyterian Church in 
East Palmyra, until called in 1897 to assist the Rev. R. J. 
Kent, D. D., in the Lewis Avenue Congregational Church, 
Brooklyn. While thus assisting, for nearly two years he was 
preaching on Sunday in the Parkville Congregational Church. 
This resulted in a service there of more than four years, with 
sixty-five members received and a house of worship furnished. 



62 Biographies oi Pastors. 

His coininissioii from the State Missionary Society expired, and 
his work there ended July, 1901. Shortly after he was again 
called to assist Dr. Kent in the Lewis Avenue Congregational 
Church, and is now laboring in that field. 

In 1 88 1, Mr. Welcher married Miss Fanny F. Avery, of 
New York, finding a minister's wife devoted and efficient in 
the home and in the church. The family, including three 
daughters and one son, is still unbroken. 

THEODORE LANGDON VAN NORDEN 

Theodore Langdon Van Norden, the thirteenth pastor of 
the church, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 
26, 1869, and his winter home, during early childhood, was in 
the South. 

His first instruction was received from governesses, but 
when nine years old he was sent to school in New York. He 
prepared for college in private schools in New York, and 
passed the entrance examination for Columbia University in 
1885. He did not enter college, however, until 1886, and 
graduated with bachelor's degree in 1890. 

He continued his studies in the University School of 
Philosophy of Columbia, then just organized under the presi- 
dency of vSeth Low, for two years. D'.iring tliL* same >ears, 
he attended lectures at Union Theological Seminary, and was 
licensed to preach Ijy the New York Presbytery in the .spring 
of 1892. 

The following autunui Mr. Van Norden entered Oxford, 
England, as a university student. Returning to America in 

1893, he preached in the- South vSaleiii Presbyteiian Church, 
received a call to l)ecome its i)astor, and was installed in Ma\-, 

1894. He was married in October, 1892. 

During liis uni\ersit\- life, and afterward, he was made a 
member of several societies interested in various fields of 
research. He was also a member of several .social clubs and 



BlOCRAl'HlES OF PaSTORS. f)."? 

several clubs for promoting interest in pure-bred live 
stock. 

During his life in New York he was interested in the life 
of the tenement-house districts, and was president of one of 
the first organizations of bo3\s, which have developed into these 
boys' clubs. 

Mr. Van Norden has always been interested in agricul- 
ture, and since his home has been in South Salem, somewhat 
identified with the agricultural interests of Westchester 
County. At present he is President of "The School of 
Practical Agriculture and Horticulture," near Pleasantville, 
N. Y., and is connected with the following local organizations : 
President of the Citizens Association of the Town of Lewis- 
boro, and of the South Salem I^ibrary Association ; Vice- 
President of the Home Society of the South Salem Church, 
and Chairman of the Board of Trustees. 



REV. JAMES LILBURN JEWELL 

James Lilburn Jewell, the present pastor, was born at 
Tusculum, Teun., September loth, 1868, and spent the early 
part of his life on his father's farm. 

He prepared for college in the Preparatory School con- 
nected with Greenville and Tusculum College, from which 
college he graduated, with bachelor's degree, in 1891. 

During his senior year he was President of the college Y. 
M. C. A., and in the same year represented the Y. M. C. A. 
work among the colleges and univ^ersities of the State. 

During one vacation he represented the Presbyterian 
Board of Publication and Sabbath-.school work in the Presby- 
tery of Holston, and during another, the American Bible 
Society in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina. 

He was commissioned by the Home Board as Principal of 
Jeroldstown Academy for the years '9i-'92 and '92-'93. 

In 1893 he entered McCormick Theological Seminary, 



64 Biographies of Pastors. 

where he spent two years. Duriiiiij both vacations he preached 
hi the Washington and Springplace churches, in Tennessee, 
which churches he suppHed for a year, until he entered 
Auburn Theological Seminary, the fall of '96. 

Before graduating, he accepted a call to the pastorate of 
the Presbyterian Church of Jamesville, N. Y., and ser\-ed the 
church there until April, '99, when he became pastor of his 
present charge at South Salem, X. Y. 

The son of an elder in the Presbyterian Church, he was 
brovight up under strict Presbyterian influences, and united 
with the church when thirteen years old. Early in life he had 
a desire to enter the ministr}*, and was received under the care 
of the Holston Presbytery w^hile in college. 

He was licensed to preach by the same Presbytery 
August 23, 1895 ; was ordained and installed pastor over the 
Jamesville Presbyterian Church, by the Syracuse Presbytery, 
June 15, 1897, and over the present charge by the Westchester 
Presbytery, May 23, 1899. In September, 1900, he was mar- 
ried to Mary E. Ray, of Auburn, N. Y. 



^ 




o; 

<! 
Z: 

o 

</) 

od 

<; 

-J 
o 

x: 

f-l 



CHAPTER V. 
G1.EANINGS. 

THERE are some items of interest recorded in the vari- 
ous books belonging to the Society, which it seems 
worth while to mention in a sketch of this kind, but 
which cannot well be classified. 

Mr. Mead's salary was usually raised by subscription, and 
from 1780, when the trustees' record begins, until 1800, varied 
from forty-one to seventy-three pounds. The pound here 
mentioned is what is known as York State money, and was of 
the value of two dollars and fifty cents. 

In 1796, it was voted that the pews should be rented, and 
the rentals varied from one pound ten shillings to five pounds 
per pew. This practice was discontinued in 1800, and with the 
exception of a year or two, the pastor's salary was raised by 
subscription, until the year 1853, when the pews were again 
rented ; and that method of raising most of the funds needed for 
current expenses is still continued. 

Mr. Ely's salary was two hundred and fifty dollars a year, 
together with the use of the parsonage, and his firewood drawn 
to the door. Mr. Burbank's salary was three hundred dollars, 
with use of parsonage. 

Mr. Butler's salary was only two hundred and eighty 
dollars, with other privileges. Mr. Saunders received four 
hundred dollars, as did also Mr. Frame. Dr. Eiudsley at first 



66 Gl.FANlNC.S. 

recei\-e(l six luiiulred dollars, after a few years eight hun- 
dred dollars, and before he left, one thousand dollars per 
year. 

While Dr. Gregory was here the salary was raised to 
fifteen hundred dollars, then lowered to thirteen hundred 
dollars, and a few years later to one thousand dollars, which is 
the amount at the present time. 

In December, 1804, it was voted to give William Town- 
send twenty shillings to sweep the meeting-house, put in the 
glass, and fix the east door. 

In icSo5 a resolution was passed to give some wood to the 
singing-.school at the schoolhouse. This schoolhouse, as ap- 
pears from another record, was in the churchyard at that 
time. 

December, 1S19, it was voted that no wood be sold with- 
out pay down, which would seem to indicate that some people 
then were no more honest than some buyers of the ]:)resent 
day. 

After the new church was built, in 1S26, there seems to 
have been cjuite a heated contest on the subject of stoves. In 
December, 1828, a motion was made to purchase two stoves; 
this motion was lost ; but at a special meeting in January, 
1829, the same motion was carried. After the stoves were in 
use, the subject is not again alluded to, and the stove question 
was finall}- settled. 

In Mr. Saunders" pastorate, the minister must ha\e done 
considerable farming, as in a letter which Mr. Saunders .sent to 
the Society's meeting in 1832, he asks that the cellar be fixed, 
so that his vegetables, of which he had more than one hun- 
dred bushels, should not freeze during the winter. He also 
mentions the swine he is fattening, and the corn he has raised, 
and wants the street fence fixed to protect his land from the 
neighbors' swine. The same letter, in speaking of the im- 
provements recently made, mentions the purcha.se of a hearse 
as a great convenience. So far as we have been able to learu, 



Gleanings. 67 

the ownership of a hearse was a novel investment for a church 
society, even in those days. 

The following description of the assembling and appear- 
ance of the congregation in church during the pastorates of 
Mr. Saunders and Mr. Frame is very interesting, and gives one 
a very accurate picture of the old-time churchgoers. It was 
written several years ago by the late George W. Mead for the 
" Old Oaken Bucket," a paper issued by the Home Society: 

"It is a clear Sabbath morning, and the quiet, orderly, 
breakfast of ( in those days ) a middling-sized family of nine, 
has been partaken of, when from the head of the family comes 
in tones the sweetest, ' who goes to church to-day ? ' All but 
the sick or absolutely unprepared ones, make or are made 
ready, and start one-half hour (the driving time) before 'meet- 
ing time.' 

" The ' early ones ' are even now beginning to pass : — Out 
of the Cross Road jogs, old Mr. Joseph Nash, Mrs. Nash and 
Aunt Mar}' Lawrence. Deacon Martin Mead is likeh' to follow 
.soon after 'from up the street.' In a few minutes more will 
follow, the big wagon loads of churchgoers, dropping into the 
procession from each house and at every road junction, till as 
the church is approached from the west, an almost unbroken 
line of carriages and persons on horseback, extending for say a 
mile in close proximity, is seen slowly, and with Sabbath Day 
orderliness, wending its way up over the ' Zarr Wood Hill.' 
Of this number, not less than ten or twelve 'come in at the 
foot of the hill' (below Mrs. Hunt's) from Cross River way. 
Now, and for years, I suppose, not more than two or three 
come, where ten and more came before. 

" From north and east of the church came also throngs of 
people in carriages, on horseback and on foot. This was not 
an exceptional scene ; stormy had the day to be to sensibly 
change it. As a rule, every family attended church every 
Sunday, and nearly all attended at the South Salem ' Meeting 
House.' 



68 Gleanings. 

"Arrived at the church, which stood back of the same 
'noble old oak," (I never think of the present one, even in 
site, as a part of the dear old one with its belfry — to child- 
hood — so weird) there is intentness to unload, as soon as 
practicable, but no unseemh- haste. 

"In front of the 'Meeting House,' and some forty feet 
away, drawn up in line, stand (stood; seemingly the same 
interested company of lookers-on that stands there yet. Ex- 
cept upon a closer inspection of faces, I see no change. Can 
it be that curiosity has kept them standing there every Sabbath 
for the last fifty years, and that their entering of the church 
slower and later is only due to their increased years ? 

" Passing through the ample vestibule we enter the Meet- 
ing House proper, by the left hand aisle. On our right is the 
(now) 'old-fashioned' high pulpit, supported by handsome 
mahogany turned cohnnns, and enclosed ])y a like mahogany 
railing. 

"Back of the pulpit, is a long window for lighting it, 
shaded by a Venetian blind. On either side of the aisle are 
rows of straight, high-sided and backed pews. In these, the 
pewholders turn, sit and face the minister and the door. As 
maybe imagined, this is somewhat peculiar to strangers, not to 
say embarrassing to such as come late. Nor is the embarrass- 
ment lessened to the latter by the fact that the aisles rise steadily 
to the rear, so there is a tendency to shuffle, stub or stumble. 

"The first to enter the pew is the mother, in winter with 
her foot stove, and in sunnner with her turkey- feathered fan 
and a sprig of fennel ; then the younger children in the 
inverse order of their ages, and tlien the father takes the head 
or entering in, of the pew. And, to my l)t)yisli retrospect, what 
an array of venerable men, heads of families, with their noble 
wives, were there, making such a grove of flourishing almond 
trees. All were patriots, many of them were patriot soldiers 
of the revolution, and all were good men and wonicii, true to 
each other, the Church and the vState. 



Gleanings. 69 

"Passing as I have, and as I do now, in memory, up that 
left aisle, whom in successive order do I see? Benjamin 
Strong Mead, Esquire Thomas Mead, his only brother ; 
Esquire Stephen Gilbert, Captain Moses Bouton, Joel Law- 
rence, Alfred Mead, Colonel vSolomon Mead, his only brother; 
Benjamin Benedict, Deacon Martin Mead, Jeremiah Howe, 
Jonah Todd, Aaron Mead, and others. On the opposite side 
of the same aisle is Joseph Nash, 'old' Mrs. Morgan, Peter 
Benedict, Ebenezer Howe and others. On the other aisle I do 
not see them as they sit, but there is that other Martin Mead — 
the worthy son of Rev. Solomon Mead, who so wisel}' and well 
was pastor of that church for fifty years — whom every man, 
woman and child in the church knows (knew) and loves. 
There were also Captain Jacob Hull and 'Jere' Hull, his 
brother, Zarr Wood, Isaac Bouton, Jared Bouton, and the 
Messrs. Keeler, Gilbert, Fancher, Webster, Hoyt and Wood, 
and the brothers Richard and Rufus Mead. 

" No v.'onder that, living after such men, the Presbyterian 
Church in South Salem stands firmly, nor that the town has 
alwa3's ranked among the first in morals from its colonial days 
to the present. Half the proposed reminiscences are untold, 
but none of the space is unfilled, and ' The Old Oaken 
Bucket ' swings out again upon the well-pole and drips back 
into the well." 

The different ministers had varied success in their farming 
operations. In the communication of Mr. Saunders to the 
vSociety, already referred to, he states that he had hired sixty 
dollars' worth of work done on the farm during the previous 
year, besides having removed more than a hundred loads of 
stone, and that his expenses had in all amounted to four hun- 
dred and eighty dollars, although his salary was only four 
hundred dollars. On the other hand, one of the old people of 
the community has said that Mr. Burbank, during his three 
years' stay, made his entire living from the farm, and saved 
the whole of his salary, three hundred dollars per \ear. 



70 Gleanings. 

The liqiior problem, as is well known, was one with which 
the Church of the olden time did not feel called upon to 
deal. As an instance of the universal custom of those days, 
we find a receipt from the villao^e merchant, in 1801, 
acknowledging payment by the trustees of the church for 
some rum "used when the parsonage land was sold." When 
the first efforts were made in the direction of temperance re- 
form, they were directed solely against the use of the stronger 
liquors, such as rum, gin and whiskey, and it was not con- 
sidered inconsistent for a good temperance man to keep and 
use cider freely. Mr. Saunders was active in the temperance 
work of his time, but it is evident that he kept a supply of 
cider in his cellar, and that he wanted it to " run " ' in the 
winter time, as he complains to the Society in the letter hereto- 
fore mentioned, "that the cellar was so cold that cider froze 
so that it would not run." It seems to have taken the good 
people many years to learn that cider caused as much trouble 
as an}- other intoxicating liquor. 

Owing to the fact that the Society owned a large tract of 
woodland it was customary, when calling a minister, to agree 
to furnish him with a certain amount of wood drawn to the 
door, usually about fort}' loads. This work was generall}- 
accomplished by a "wood frolic." On some Sunday during 
the winter the pastor would announce from the pulpit that on 
a fixed day of the following week the congregation were 
invited to cut and draw wood. At the time appointed, 
each man who owned a team was expected to come to draw 
the wood, while those who had no teams brought axes and 
formed an army of chojipers. One day's work was 
generall}- sufiicient to furnish the minister with his 
yearly su})])ly, and also to ])ro\ide the fuel used at the 
church. The stor}- is told of one great wood-frolic, when 
sixt\' loads of wood were cut and drawn in one da\ , 
and part of this sawed reach' for use. On this occasion 
llie ladies of the congregation brought baskets of provi- 



Gleanings. 71 

sions to the parsonage, where at noon dinner was served 
to the whole compan}'. 

Rev. Solomon Mead married for his second wife a lad>- of 
Waterbury, Connecticut. He rode to Waterbur>- on hor.se- 
back, was married, and returned to South Salem with his 
wife riding on the double-saddle behind him. 

Solomon Mead, of this place, a great-grandson of Rev. 
Solomon Mead, has in his possession a number of relics 
formerly belonging to the first pastor of the church. Among 
them are Mr. Mead's cane, one or two of his Latin books, an 
old collection plate u.sed for many years during his pastorate, 
and a number of his sermons in his own handwriting. One 
sermon, however, has been lost. It was delivered on the first 
Sabbath of July, 1776, from the text, Prov. 14 : 34 : "Right- 
eousness exalteth a nation ; but sin is a reproach to any people. ' ' 

Mrs. Reuben Frame, now in her ninety-fourth year,* 
sends this greeting to the South Salem Church : Revelation 
2 : 19. "I know thy works and charity, and service, and 
faith, and thy patience, and thy works ; and the last to be 
more than the first." Isaiah 64:4. — "For since the begin- 
ning of the world, men have not heard, nor perceived by the 
ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he 
hath prepared for him that w^aiteth for him. ' ' ' ' My love to the 
dear people that remember me, and in God's time may we all 
be gathered in heaven, to be forever with the Lord." 

Dr. Lindsley, on his last visit to South Salem, in June, i.S.Sg, 
delivered a memorable sermon in the church. His sudden 
death, only two years later, makes the .sentences given below 
like a benediction and farewell : 

" A pilgrim, but not a stranger, appears again among you 
to retouch the keys of lov'e and friendship, to recall events that 
should not be forgotten, and to take a glance with you at the 
swdftly coming future and its certainties. My pastorate here 



* Mrs. Frame sent the above greeting only a few clays before her death, which occurred 
February 6, 1902, Th::se words are thus a farewell message. 



73 Glkanings. 

ended twenty-one years ago. During this period my lot has 
been cast among people of all descriptions ; my labors as citi- 
zen and minister have been widely extended. Yet these 
changes have not blotted from my mind the scenery or the 
people of South Salem. The hills and valleys, the cascade 
brooks, the slumbering lakes, deep set in wavy verdure, and 
mirroring the sky, forming a landscape of picturesque beauty 
seldom surpassed, are photographed on tablets that never 
perish. Even the trees I know^ Monarchs of the orchard and 
forest. They remind me of the patriarchs who planted them 
and guarded their growth. Every bend and bridge on your 
roads, every corner to be turned, were known to me as well by 
night as by day. The homes, the names, the faces are familiar 
to me .still. It was not uncommon to find three generations 
under the same roof, or grouped around it. Sometimes the 
fourth appeared. The fourth has since grown to manhood ; 
and now the fifth generation is joining juvenile voices in 
household scenes and .songs. I appear among you, therefore, 
as in some sense related to four or five generations. I knew 
the grandparents and parents and children of many of you, 
who are no longer young. You have a worthy ancestry. 
They belong to the order of sons and daughters of the Lord 
Almighty. 

" You do not boast that you derive your birth 

From loins enthroned and rulers of the earth, 

For higher far your proud pretentions rise. 

The sons of those passeil into the skies." 

"They were noted the country- through for their industry 
and .sobriety, their honesty and hospitality-, their intelligence 
and ])iet\-. The>- were economical, l)Ut 11r-\- ])ai(l tlieir debts ; 
not by shrinkage to grow rich on it. If the\- chose to li\-e 
plainly, they ate their own bread and thanked God for it. If 
any among them lived in slotli or on other jieople's monev. 
they had to go out of tliis town to learn how to do it. They 
had no .school for .scamps, and no shingles to shelter whiskey 



Glkanings. 73 

saloons. But they knew how to lay by in store, and always 
had something to give to the needy and to contribute to the 
advancement of knowledge and religion among men. They 
maintained homes with enlightened privileges, and the strug- 
gle among these rocks and swales made them brave and inde- 
pendent. The foundation of their virtues w^as the word of 
God, which enlightened their consciences, and the motives 
which actuated them were purified by communion with Christ 
through his spirit. Their lives influenced society and dictated 
its general course. 

" I knew these men and women. I knew them in their 
daily life, I knew them in their joys and sorrows. It was my 
lot to minister to some of them in their last days on earth, and 
I remember with what experiences of the divine faithfulness 
they departed." 



^ 



74 



REV. 
REV. 
REV. 
REV. 
REV. 
REV. 
REV. 
REV. 
REV. 
REV. 
REV. 
REV, 
REV 
REV 



Pastors, Deacons and Eliihrs. 



SOLOMON MEAD, 
JOHN ELY. 
JACOB BURBANK, 
CHARLES F. BUTLER, 
STEPHEN SAUNDERS, 
REUBEN FRAME, 
AARON L. LINDSLEY, 
DANIEL S. GREGORY, 
THOMAS M. GRAY, 
GEORGE M. McCAMPBELL, . 
LYMAN D. CALKINS, 
MANFRED P. WELCHHR, 
THEODORE L. VAN NORDHN, 
JAMES L. JEWELL, 



17^2-1800 
1804-181 2 
1813-1817 
1820- 1 82-, 
182 ^,-18^4 
i8",4-i8;o 
1852-1808 
1 8oq- 1 87 1 
1871-1876 
187Q-1882 
1884-1886 
1888- 1 89-, 
1804-1 8*57 
i8qo- 



SDcacons anti oJlDcr?. 



Deacons. 

Solomon Closk, 
John Bouton. 

ElDcrs. 

Solomon Closk, 
John Bouton, 
JosiAH Gilbert, Esq_., 
Joseph Osburn, 
Thaddeus Crane, 
Joseph Benedict, 
Nathaniel Wicks, 
Nathan Rockwell, 
Capt. Gould Bouton, 
Capt. Samuel Lawrence, 
Thaddeus Rockwell, 
David Northrop, 
Aaron Keei.er, 
Miah Northrop, 



William Townsend. 
Nehemiah Northrop, 
Thomas Mead, 
JosiAH Gilbert, Second, 
Jaked Bouton, 
Ezra Northrop, 
Aaron Northrop, 
Martin Mead. Second, 
John Bouton, 
Edwin Bouton. 
Jacob Webster, 
Leonard B. Todd, 
Webster B. Hull, 
Thomas Gilbert, 
John F. Bouton, 
George Evereti Hull, 
Henry L. St. John, 
Joseph A. Webster. 















^^ 



'^mBM^^r 






^F^' 



^vAc? 



:#^^ 



4V'.,^i "i ••■ -• " . \,-^ •><' / -"'^^i^AO 0/fV 






^m^^mmM 







II I pi I ||il|| LIBRARY 



■8li||{ 

OF CONGRESS 





; :! 



11 



! il 

I; ;l ! 



,11 
plil 




illf 



III 






ill 



III 









I 



il il 



i 



IP 
ill 



• * 



ffiiiiiiiiii liii!i^» 



fill 



pi!' 
Ill 'I 



I 



., .Pi' 



I ill'll II llfPiii 



!j p Ijlj! ! Ill I 

ill 



I pillili 

I {i|! 



I i 



, I ' 



ill 



p 
ililill ili 



,.n,,iiiir 



ini I I il 



;>; i iji jl 






( I I ' 



Ijljll i ijljjljjljjjljjjjl 



1! i i 

i 



' ijiiiiiii™' 






iiiij 

1 1 



ihiM 



iiilB^^^^^^^^^^^^ 



(I nil MM I 



i! 



II 



ii 



